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Lately, the whole town is abuzz with gossip.

The great Hanguang-Jun is looking for a wife.

Wei Ying does not care—or he pretends not to care—about this great Hanguang-Jun. The immortal has been lauded a hero by clans and civilians far and wide, his exceptional repute preceding him. Known for always being where the chaos is, his feats have even been recorded in the history books they teach in classes today, in particular classes that Wei Ying loath to pay attention to.

But, more importantly: Hanguang-Jun is old. And not the interesting kind of old, but the boring kind of old. Having just turned eighteen last fall, Wei Ying is at the prime of his life, and definitely far from close to old. He already feels his youth slipping away from him, even if he is determined to cultivate into immortality—just as all the other greats have. His future is full of promise, his cultivation can only grow more powerful from hereon, and he is easily deemed the best disciple of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect by all of his teachers and his elders, something he knows he is already being begrudged for.

Because the minute Madam Yu hears Hanguang-Jun is looking for a wife, Wei Ying is the very first to go.

She claims it is for the prestige, for the connections. Wei Ying would like to believe her, if not for the fact that she refuses to put her one and only daughter up for such a match. Her engagement with Jin Zixuan is already broken, and so logically she should have been the best contender for this match. But Madam Yu does not so much as consider sending her only daughter off to an immortal she does not trust, no. She is far too clever for that.

She not only wants to be rid of Wei Ying, she also wants to be rewarded handsomely for it. Hanguang-Jun is perfect for her little scheme.

Within just a day, the meeting between Wei Ying and Hanguang-Jun is arranged.

(It seems the great Hanguang-Jun truly is, as they say, anxiously looking for a wife.)

Truth be told, Wei Ying had thought it to be but silly rumours. Why would such a venerable man like Hanguang-Jun bother with marriage? He has everything a great cultivator could possibly want: a place in his sect that affords him all of the advantages of being a Lan by blood but none of the responsibility of being the first heir, the freedom of roaming around the world as he pleases, the knowledge that his cultivation is the best of the best and that he will be able to live a good, long life serving his people.

It is everything that Wei Ying dreams of. He wants a life of being able to go on as many night hunts as he wants, anytime, anywhere, exterminating evil and defending the weak—but that little fantasy of his is about to remain a fancy pipe dream if this little match-making scheme of Madam Yu’s takes off.

It devastates Wei Ying to even think about it. His promising future—reduced to nothing but becoming someone else’s trophy wife. Even if it is Hanguang-Jun we are talking about, the most famous wanderer of these lands, Wei Ying knows he cannot expect to be taken along with the man on his travels. A good omega mate who marries into his alpha’s family is expected to manage the household, and give birth to children to ensure the longevity of the clan. Hanguang-Jun is old old, and so he will reasonably expect such a thing from Wei Ying.

(Perhaps it is because Hanguang-Jun is the only—functioning, if you will—Lan heir left to produce children. Zewu-Jun infamously locked himself up in seclusion all those years ago, upon the death of a close friend. Some say it was a lover. Some even say it was an accidental murder, and that Zewu-Jun had slain his lover himself. No one knows the reason why.

But he has not been seen in public in ages.

Perhaps that is the reason why.)

Whatever it is, Wei Ying only knows that it is going to be at his expense if he does become the great Hanguang-Jun’s wife, and so he seeks not to be the very thing.

He wakes up bright and early on the morning they are scheduled to meet, spends a good hour or so twisting his hair into two obnoxious pig tails like the young maidens do down at the Yunmeng market these days, and slathers heavy, red rouge onto his face like there’s no tomorrow.

Wei Ying gazes up into the mirror when he is done, and with great satisfaction, sees that he looks absolutely ridiculous.

Perhaps to an unsuspecting stranger, Wei Ying may look as though he has simply done a child’s impression of what a beautiful maiden should look like, with his frivolous pigtails and the overdone make-up. He is simply trying his best to impress his suitor, they might even say. Such a hardworking omega, your efforts will not go unnoticed.

But Wei Ying knows he looks exactly what he wants to be: a fool. If he looks as though he is trying too hard, perhaps Hanguang-Jun will lose interest. If he looks like an absolute child, perhaps Hanguang-Jun will not even spare him a second glance. For what respectable, dignified man would choose a mate who slathers enough make-up on their face that they look like a whore from a brothel house?

A man like Hanguang-Jun is certainly looking for a modest, humble wife.

A man like Hanguang-Jun will definitely not pick a shameless harlot like him.

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Madam Yu arranges for a luxurious sedan to take them to Cloud Recesses.

Normally, they would have made the journey on their swords, but Madam Yu thinks it would be unsightly for the future Lan-er furen to arrive at the steps of the Gusu Lan sect on a flying sword.

“You are competing with maidens with far better decorum,” she had said. “If you wish to even stand a chance with Hanguang-Jun, you better act like it.”

Problem is: Wei Ying does not.

Funnily enough, Madam Yu says nothing when Wei Ying steps into the sedan looking like an overly excited teenage girl who has only just discovered her mother’s make-up stash. She only makes a low ‘tsk’, like she has half a mind to tell Wei Ying to go get changed—only for her to change her mind at the very last second and accept him into the sedan, anyway.

Wei Ying is befuddled, to say the least. He second-guesses himself, thinking he hasn’t gone overboard enough if even Madam Yu is letting it slide. Does Madam Yu know something that he doesn’t know? What if—he thinks with a horrified gasp—he actually looks good? He doesn’t keep up with the fashion trends, he only knows to copy what he sees from the young maidens that patronise the markets in Yunmeng. Perhaps, contrary to what he believes, heavy red rouge is indeed in trend? Perhaps he has dolled up in the exact way that Madam Yu expects him to?

Thankfully, Madam Yu makes (forces) Jiang Cheng to travel with them. It’s good practice for him as future sect leader to become acquainted with the Gusu Lan Clan, she says. And so, with Jiang Cheng squished right next to him in the sedan, being as grumpy as he can be with having to forgo the use of his sword, he turns to Wei Ying and makes a face, asking: “Why are you dressed like a girl today? No one’s going to marry you like this. Why can’t you be more like jiejie? A-niang, A-Xian’s not even taking this seriously.”

Hearing that completely relieves any doubts he may have had, because while Jiang Cheng may be an absolute shit candidate for marriage, he has the highest expectations imaginable for a wife. If someone like Jiang Cheng already disapproves of him, then Hanguang-Jun will definitely despise him. For Wei Ying, right now, is the furthest thing from Jiang Yanli. A natural, elegant beauty that all men would desire for a wife, and one that Wei Ying can never compare to. Which is exactly what he wants.

Yes, Wei Ying will repulse Hanguang-Jun for sure.

His entire life depends on it.

He cannot fail.

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Cloud Recesses is as grand as it is described in books. It is excessively white, with overly choking air and impossibly beautiful individuals that walk around looking irritatingly perfect with not even a single hair out of place.

It is the furthest thing from Lotus Pier. Wei Ying already sees every single one of his dreams die upon setting foot onto Gusu Lan grounds.

The young disciple that attends to the Jiangs at the foot of the mountain is nice enough, offering a hand out to Wei Ying as he steps out of the sedan, looking to be just around Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng’s age himself. His name is Lan Jingyi—yes, a Gusu Lan by blood, he confirms, when he sees the spark of surprise in Wei Ying’s eyes. Lan Jingyi cracks a few jokes here and there as he warmly receives the Jiangs right into Cloud Recesses, looking much less of a bore and hard-ass than all the other disciples are.

“Maybe I should marry you instead,” Wei Ying jokes, after sharing yet another laugh with this Lan Jingyi.

“Wei Wuxian,” Madam Yu warns, sending him a piercing look.

“Haaa…” Lan Jingyi nervously smiles, like he can’t even fathom the idea.

But he gives Wei Ying a few more lingering looks after that, something that Wei Ying completely misses and something that Jiang Cheng, rather disdainfully, catches. It is enough for the Yunmeng Jiang heir to hurriedly step up and push himself in between the two of them, making sure he keeps any wandering eyes—and hands—off of Wei Ying.

Lan Jingyi does not make any further moves after that. He simply leads Jiang Cheng and Madam Yu to the main hall of Cloud Recesses first, where they will meet with the elders of the clan.

It is only after they leave that Lan Jingyi tells Wei Ying to follow him, to go to where Hanguang-Jun is already seated and waiting for him.

“Oh,” Wei Ying says, with a jolt. “He is already waiting?”

“We have been expecting your arrival for some time,” Lan Jingyi answers.

“I hope he hasn’t been waiting too long,” Wei Ying says. “How have his meetings with the other maidens gone today?”

Lan Jingyi pauses in his step, like he hadn’t been expecting such a question. “Other maidens?” he asks, wondering if he has missed something.

“Yes, the other maidens he must be meeting with,” Wei Ying hums, thinking nothing of Lan Jingyi’s confusion. “Because he must have a long string of maidens eagerly waiting to meet with him, hasn’t he? If he is serious about looking for a wife, I am sure he must have met them all.”

“Oh,” Lan Jingyi says, like it has just dawned unto him. “I see.”

He never answers Wei Ying’s question.

(He is afraid of frightening off the only marriage prospect that Hanguang-Jun has agreed to meet, if he does.)

Their quiet walk down the long corridor finally comes to a halt in front of two paper doors, where Lan Jingyi steps aside for Wei Ying to take his place right before.

“Hanguang-Jun,” Lan Jingyi announces from outside. “Wei Wuxian from the Yunmeng Jiang Sect has arrived.”

He turns back to Wei Wuxian, gives him a little courtesy bow, then proceeds to take his leave—not without turning back for one last look right as he turns the corner, of course.

Once again, Wei Ying does not notice. Instead, he steels himself to meet with the great immortal, paces back and forth in front of the paper doors for a bit, before building up the courage he needs to confront the man head-on. It is now or never. Might as well get this extremely difficult experience done and over with as soon as he can, so they can all return to Yunmeng and pretend none of this ever happened.

He places both hands on the paper doors, sucks in one long and deep breath, and slides them open.

Hoping he has not just sealed his fate.

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Wei Ying throws himself into The Act, immediately.

He will not be some mild-mannered maiden with a bashful smile and a timid look to their face.

He will be a menace, an absolute brat.

He will absolutely not get married!

“I don’t want to marry a grandpaaaa!” he whines in a high pitch, gliding the doors open as roughly as he can. He does a little huff and then a stomp, like a child that’s been forced to turn up at a meeting that he does not want. Because he really doesn’t.

He kicks his shoes off carelessly, sending them flying high into the air, and hardly even bothers to look where they land in the room.

He crosses his arms together, stomps his way further in, and then finally lifts his eyes to meet the intense gaze of the man he definitely does not wish to marry. Seated quietly on a cushion right before a table, taking a slow sip of his hot tea, staring right back into Wei Ying’s soul.

Definitely… definitely does not wish to marry.

Without a… without a… without a…

(‘Doubt’ completely goes unsaid.)

Oh, Wei Ying feels his knees begin to buckle. The great Hanguang-Jun is… so handsome? He is handsome? He is not balding at the crown, like all great immortals do? He has—the most frightening pair of golden eyes, ones that say a thousand words and simultaneously nothing at all and penetrate right through you. His face is like polished jade, his hair so ebony and long and black. The high crown that he wears in his hair makes him look like a prince. But he is not a pretty boy; no, he is far from it, he is built like a man. With overly broad shoulders and arms big enough that, ah, the curve of his muscles show through his Gusu Lan white robes.

When you harbour a level of cultivation as high as he does, you have the choice to appear eternally youthful, eternally beautiful. And yet it appears Hanguang-Jun does not wish to confine himself to conventional standards of beauty, no. For he lets his grey hairs show, a few strands falling gracefully over his face, a jarring contrast to the deep gold in his eyes. With his jaw so strong, so angular, and so handsomely chiselled, too. There are hints of fine lines forming underneath his eyes, telling of the man’s age in mortal years, showing of the maturity and wisdom that he must no doubt hold.

Wei Ying suddenly feels so small. Physically, that goes without saying, for Hanguang-Jun surely dwarfs him in size, two times over; but also figuratively, because Wei Ying is starting to realise why they speak so highly of the great Hanguang-Jun far and wide, and why even the face of evil would shudder in his presence.

One look at Hanguang-Jun, and Wei Ying is already intimidated out of his wits.

But the man only continues to sip his tea without a sound, like he is waiting for Wei Ying to finish his act.

(Like it’s his favourite act of the show.)

It takes Wei Ying a second or two to steady his feet and regain his composure, reminding himself what he has come here to do. You may stump Wei Ying once, but you may not stump him twice!

In a rather haughty fashion, Wei Ying makes his way over to the empty seat, and plops his butt down opposite of Hanguang-Jun like he owns the very world.

“I can’t believe they made me meet someone so old,” Wei Ying scoffs, seating himself in the most obnoxious way possible. His two long legs spread out, his two hands grabbing at the front of the cushion. As if he’s riding a horse. How provocative a pose, and how innocent of Wei Ying to miss it. “Hey, grandpa, shouldn’t you have better options somewhere else? A better-looking popo, perhaps?”

Madam Yu would be faint at the way Wei Ying is speaking to the great Hanguang-Jun. Anyone in the right mind would.

And yet, Hanguang-Jun does not so much as flinch. He merely sets his cup of tea down, and barely hides the curl of his lip as he speaks.

(Wei Ying does not like that smile. As if Hanguang-Jun is perfectly aware of what Wei Ying is doing, but is willing to play along with his childish attempts to try and ruin this for them.)

“I am not opposed to the option I have been given,” he says, and leaves it at that.

Wei Ying is left to fill the silence. In embarrassment.

Option. Hanguang-Jun said option. Option without the ‘s’ at the back, which means Wei Ying is his only option.

Wei Ying is already overthinking every word he says, and he’s only five minutes into this conversation.

Was that simply the Hanguang-Jun Effect™ on him? Has Wei Ying not spoken to a handsome older man before in his life? Seriously, how different is Hanguang-Jun from, say, Jiang-shushu? For Heaven’s sake, Wei Ying, don’t lose it!

“W…Whatever,” Wei Ying stutters out, hurriedly reaching into the front of his robes for the stick of tanghulu he’d made sure to purchase from the Yunmeng market this morning.

It is his back-up plan. He pops the stick of candied fruit into his mouth, and makes the most awful slurping sound. Speaking with his mouth full, he prattles on, quickly averting his eyes away from the man, “So, things you should know about me before we, ah, jump into the thick of things! I don’t cook, and I don’t clean. I like to do nothing but fight! Oh, and I only eat food that is overly savoury or sweet. I only sleep at one in the morning, and always wake up past noon. Ummm, I also hate routine, and I dislike children. No children for me! Unless I’m beating them to a pulp in a fight. Yeah!”

Hanguang-Jun is not at all fazed by what Wei Ying has said. In fact, rather insultingly—he doesn’t look like he’s paying that much attention to what he’s saying at all. Instead, his eyes seem to be transfixed on the way Wei Ying sucks and slurps around the balls of coated candy, like he has never seen a more wondrous thing in his life.

“Oh,” he whispers, as he parts his lips softly in awe. He murmurs in such soft tones, it’s like he’s speaking to himself. Wei Ying almost doesn’t catch it.

Wei Ying startles. Immediately, he pulls the tanghulu out of his mouth, leaving trails of sticky, syrupy juices sliding down his chin that he takes care to lick. “W-Wha?”

“Ah,” Hanguang-Jun says after a moment’s contemplation, raising his gaze back up to him. His golden eyes flicker with amusement, as he takes in the sight of Wei Ying as a whole. “Do you wear your hair in pigtails often?”

Hanguang-Jun is blatantly not listening to him at all!

“I, I, I,” Wei Ying stammers, clearly at a loss of what to do.

He’d worn his hair into pigtails for a reason! He meant to look comical, not—not desirable!

Plus, why is Hanguang-Jun really treating him like a child?

“You’re not even listening to me,” Wei Ying whines, acting overly upset. “Can’t you at least pretend to be interested in what I’m saying? You won’t even listen to your future wife. How will you make a good husband? ”

“I see,” Hanguang-Jun says. His smile fades slightly, at the insinuation that Hanguang-Jun will make a bad husband. “Is that what you really think?”

“W-Wha?”

“That I will make a bad husband,” Hanguang-Jun repeats, in a quiet voice.

Wei Ying gulps, when he sees all light disappear from the older man’s face.

“I mean,” Wei Ying squeaks out, feeling such a—strange feeling of dark desire coil at the pit of his stomach. “Yes…?”

He hates it! He hates how Hanguang-Jun knows exactly how to put him in his place!

Wei Ying is a charmer. Unlike Jiang Cheng, Wei Ying is socially adept and skilled at navigating the most difficult of social situations, which is exactly why he dislikes, no, hates, being embarrassed in such tough company.

Deciding that his antics still aren’t enough, Wei Ying decides to cross the invisible boundary between them that is the table.

Fuck social decorum, and rules about not touching each other on the first meeting! It’s not as if Wei Ying plans on ever seeing this man again!

He places his tanghulu back down onto the table and grabs his cushion to scoot right over to Hanguang-Jun’s side, where Wei Ying can easily inch his pretty little waist up and raise his hand high to reach for the few, odd grey strands in Hanguang-Jun’s hair.

This time, Wei Ying doesn’t miss the stunned look of surprise in Hanguang-Jun’s golden eyes.

“Why do you keep your grey hairs? You must know it makes you look like an old, old man, right? Hahaha, how will you keep your young wife entertained when you look like you’re already one foot in the grave—”

Nor does he miss the way Hanguang-Jun’s one hand immediately races to catch his tiny wrist in the air, right as Wei Ying’s fingertips brush against his hair.

His other hand folding around the back of Wei Ying’s waist gently, as if supporting the smaller omega and preventing him from falling into Hanguang-jun’s lap whole.

His hand is so large, one hand is almost enough to cover the circumference of Wei Ying’s waist.

Wei Ying grows giddy, when he realises this. Especially when he tries to protest Hanguang-Jun’s hold, shifting slightly in his grasp, only for Hanguang-Jun to apply even more pressure around his waist to ensure that Wei Ying will stay.

Like he’s refusing to ever let go now, with Wei Ying in his lap.

“H…Hanguang-Jun?” Wei Ying calls with big doe eyes, looking like a deer that’s been caught in the headlights.

With his hand positioned so near Hanguang-Jun’s face, it’s rather easy for the older man to turn his mouth to the side and press it right against Wei Ying’s white knuckles.

Kissing the back of Wei Ying’s hand gently with his lips, like he has wanted to do since they first met.

“Ah,” Wei Ying hiccups, when he sees Hanguang-Jun lower his head further and leave a long flutter of kisses down Wei Ying’s fingers, knuckles, wrist. And when he finally reaches the wrist bone, he’s kissing back up again at all of the spots that he might have missed before.

Wei Ying has never been touched—kissed—so tenderly before.

For the first time in his life, Wei Ying wants to swoon.

Is this… Is this a small taste of what being with an older man might be like? They take their time to court you, but still do so with the confidence of a grown man that knows exactly what they want?

For Hanguang-Jun barely even asked. He just took.

The minute Wei Ying scooted over here—oh, fuck. He basically offered himself up on a silver platter to the man, didn’t he?

“You do not cook, or clean,” Hanguang-Jun lightly murmurs, right against Wei Ying’s skin. His eyes flutter up in a sweet look of longing, as he narrates all the thoughts he’d held back before. “You like to fight children. You only eat food that is overly savoury or sweet. You only sleep at one in the morning, and wake up at noon.”

Hanguang-Jun made a note of everything.

Wei Ying, once again, is rendered speechless. “I, uh…”

“I listen,” Hanguang-Jun asserts, like he wants Wei Ying to know he has been doing just that. “I listen to everything Wei Ying has to say.”

Wei Ying’s heart lurches, at the very sound of his name being uttered on Hanguang-Jun’s lips. Why does it sound so—expensive? “You, ah, do.”

“Then, perhaps,” Hanguang-Jun concludes, in a voice so deep and strong. “I will make the perfect husband. For my wife.”

Wei Ying hiccups again. “Of, of course.”

“Do the grey hairs bother you that much,” Hanguang-Jun asks, quietly.

Wei Ying only manages to squeak out, “They’re… they’re okay.”

“They are okay?”

“You are, um,” Wei Ying’s free hand reaches for one of his own pigtails, twirling them thoughtlessly as he speaks. For he has not a single original thought, any longer. “You are very handsome.”

Hanguang-Jun’s lips twitch. Wei Ying’s positively sure he’s smirking.

“Not as youthful as the boys your age,” Hanguang-Jun laments, feigning his reluctance and dismay. “But I promise to cook and clean for you, and let you sleep in till noon, as your rightful husband. Would you like that?”

“I—uh—”

“Hm? Wei Ying?”

Everytime he hears his name being called by that strong and suave voice, oh, Wei Ying’s thighs cannot help but to squeeze together. He’s not even sure what that feeling is. He just knows he desperately needs pressure—down there.

“I, uh, like,” Wei Ying’s mind completely blanks. “Many things. I like many things. That, of which, uh, would be fine. Yes, I would like. Like. Yes.”

Hanguang-Jun is laughing at him. He’s sure of it. He sees the quiet laughter in his eyes, the overflowing happiness that Hanguang-Jun takes care to conceal.

“It seems that we differ, then,” Hanguang-Jun hums, his lips still pressed against Wei Ying’s hand. “I am rather particular about the things I covet.”

“Covet?” Wei Ying squeaks again. He doesn’t dare to assume the meaning of Hanguang-Jun’s words, but all Hanguang-Jun has been doing has been—gazing up at him like nothing else matters, with the force of a yearning that Wei Ying cannot comprehend.

“Yes,” Hanguang-Jun repeats, very seriously in fact. “Men covet.”

Wei Ying could not blush harder if he wanted to. He takes the opportunity to look away, still highly conscious of the fact that his wrist is still in Hanguang-Jun’s grasp—and his waist, entirely engulfed by his arms. “Well, then, I guess, perhaps, I may not, ah, understand…”

“It is alright,” Hanguang-Jun tells him, with nothing but fondness on his face. “Wei Ying is young and sweet. I wish to teach you a good many things. Perhaps, in time to come.”

Wei Ying hadn’t even the time to think about the possibility of meeting Hanguang-Jun again. That hadn’t been part of the plan! He didn’t think he’d earn Hanguang-Jun’s favour so easily like this!

Neither did he ever think he’d enjoy Hanguang-Jun’s company like this…

“Next time?” Wei Ying hiccups, asking, raising his eyes to meet his.

“Next time,” Hanguang-Jun says. “I hope Wei Ying will dress up for me like he did today, too.”

That is when the mortifying realisation sets in:

Hanguang-Jun believes I set out to seduce him today—on purpose!

Wei Ying can only gasp out a nervous, “It, it was nothing,” and try to hide the burning humiliation on his cheeks.

Only I can fail this spectacularly in such an endeavour, he thinks. It cannot be helped. I am so sweet, and cute, and adoring, and lovable, and naturally a man with great taste such as Hanguang-Jun would fall prey to my charms.

But perhaps… a life with Hanguang-Jun would not be so bad?

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Jiang Yanli is waiting for them at the front of Lotus Pier, when their sedan touches the ground.

“A-Xian!” She cries out in greeting, as Wei Ying hops out of the ride. She couldn’t be there when he left, having been sent away on official business with Jiang Fengmian, something Wei Ying was sure Madam Yu had arranged to prevent them from meddling with this matchmaking business with Gusu Lan. He knows Jiang Fengmian and Jiang Yanli have raised their objections about this entire matter behind closed doors, even if logically Wei Ying is at the age to be looking for suitable partners. Still, he will always be his shijie’s baby.

“How are you? How was it?”

“Jiejie, and not even a word of concern for me, thanks,” Jiang Cheng grumbles, as he emerges from the sedan behind. “We already know who’s your favourite brother.”

“A-Cheng! All you had to do was make nice with the Gusu Lan elders! How is that taxing in any way? Poor A-Xian had to sell himself to a stranger!”

“He is Hanguang-Jun,” Madam Yu snaps, as Jiang Cheng helps her land her feet onto the ground. “It is an honour to even have one of ours be considered by him for marriage.”

“Then why won’t you let jiejie do it?”

“Jiang Wanyin, do not get me started on you,” Madam Yu hisses. “I told you to be on your best behaviour before the Gusu Lans, and what did you do?”

“They are so boring!”

“A-Xian,” Jiang Yanli takes the chance to grab Wei Ying by the hand while her mother and brother are distracted and bickering with one another, quickly leading the omega away. “Tell me more about what Hanguang-Jun was like! Did you like him? Was he kind to you?”

“Ah,” Wei Ying says, doing his best to will his blush to go away. As much as he’d enjoyed the meeting with Hanguang-Jun, he refuses to admit it! “It was—it was alright! It went as well as meeting a grandpa can be.”

“Grandpa?!” Jiang Yanli laughs. “A-Xian, he’s not that old! Besides, he’s an immortal! Tell me, is he as great as they say? Is he as great a suitor as he is a cultivator?”

Wei Ying thinks about those golden eyes, and already begins to feel dizzy. “He is… not that bad.”

Jiang Yanli is quick to pick up on the affection underlying those words. She proclaims with a happy gasp, “A-Xian! You like him!”

“No, I don’t!” Wei Ying rushes to protest. To be caught by his shijie liking someone else is just flat-out embarrassing! “He’s just really nice! But I don’t expect to meet him again!”

“Oh?” Jiang Yanli’s excitement dies down, a bit. “Why do you think that? Did he give you any indication that he didn’t want to see you again?”

Wei Ying is slow to answer. “No, but…”

“So, he did say that he’d like to see you again!”

“I think he was just being nice,” Wei Ying mumbles, uncharacteristically shy. “He’s Hanguang-Jun, he has many other fair maidens to meet! Any one of them would be a far better option than me!”

“But there’s only one A-Xian! You’re the best of the best, I’m sure,” Jiang Yanli gushes. “You’re one of the most talented cultivators of our generation! If Hanguang-Jun wants to meet his match, you’re the best option.”

“He’s looking for a wife to sit pretty at home and bear him children, that’s what,” Wei Ying huffs. “Who says I want that sort of life? Shijie, you know me better than anyone else! I want to stay here at Yunmeng Jiang with you and Jiang Cheng! And shushu, and—Madam Yu!”

“How are you so sure what life in Gusu Lan will be like?” Jiang Yanli chides. “Hanguang-Jun is so well-travelled, perhaps you are not giving him the credit that he deserves.”

“Well, if he’s not looking for a baby-maker, then what else?”

“Next time,” Jiang Yanli smiles, prodding him. “Just ask him!”

Next time, Wei Ying thinks, rather sorely to himself. What made shijie think that Wei Ying even wanted a ‘next time’!!!

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The invitation comes in less than a week. Hanguang-Jun asks to meet again the week after, at Cloud Recesses.

Madam Yu accepts the invitation right at once.

The sheer look of approval on Madam Yu’s face cannot be more telling. This is the most excited and enthusiastic she has been about—anything to do with—Wei Ying in ages. When they sit at the dinner table together, Madam Yu is even scooping him a bowl of hot broth, something that she has never done before.

“It helps with clear skin,” Madam Yu tells Wei Ying.

She does not say any more, but Wei Ying can already hear it so clearly: this is the one thing that you have done right in your life.

And, as any child starved of approval all his life would, Wei Ying basks in it, entirely.

The nights leading up to his meeting with Hanguang-Jun are fraught with anxiety and anticipation. Wei Ying falls asleep to the memory of those piercing golden eyes, and wakes up feeling as though there are still haunting, fleeting kisses against his skin. He thinks about Hanguang-Jun giving those same kisses to other fair maidens, in his other betrothal meetings, and feels sick to the stomach about it. Then he realises what he’s doing, and feels even more sick for wanting to monopolise all of Hanguang-Jun’s attention for himself. He has never felt this way about anyone before, woman or man. Never ever wanted to be so desired by a man he has just met.

He doesn’t know what the feeling is. But it makes him queasy to the core, it makes him so nervous all the time.

He loses his concentration during practice, and Jiang Cheng even wins over him once or twice during sparring lessons.

But he doesn’t get chastised for it. All of Yunmeng Jiang knows by now there might potentially be a betrothal on their hands, and with the esteemed Hanguang-Jun to boot, and so naturally Wei Ying must be distracted, his attention someplace else.

If he is to join the Gusu Lan Clan in just mere days to come, then there is no need for excruciating sword practice.

Wei Ying’s fate will soon lie elsewhere, outside of the cultivation world.

Wei Ying’s still not sure how he feels about that.

He only knows that he cannot wait to see Hanguang-Jun again.

.

.

.

On the morning they are due to meet, Wei Ying wakes up bright and early—to do absolutely nothing at all. He does not twist his hair into obnoxious pigtails. He does not smear makeup senselessly onto his face.

For some reason, he wants Hanguang-Jun to see him for him. Not some pretty doll that wishes to marry the first rich alpha that is tossed his way. Wei Ying has never dreamt of marrying for status or riches, no. In fact, the entire notion of marriage rarely crossed his mind at all. He is aware that the preferred role for omegas is to stay at home and nurture their offspring, but Wei Ying always wanted to be a great cultivator of these lands.

It’s not like meeting Hanguang-Jun is ever going to change that.

Right?

If Hanguang-Jun is taking this seriously, and Wei Ying thinks he is, then perhaps Wei Ying owes it to him to be his truest self possible. And that is—not marriage material. Not at all!

Wei Ying gets dressed in his usual disciple robes, and happily skips to the front of Lotus Pier where the sedan is already waiting for him, along with Madam Yu and a very sleepy Jiang Cheng.

Madam Yu takes one look at his face, and flies into hysterics immediately.

“Looking like this? Are you mad?”

Wei Ying’s… confused. “Pardon?”

“Take him back to his room, and make him up,” Madam Yu instructs her handmaidens, who rush to do just that. “Wei Wuxian, now we will have to be late, all because of you.”

So, it would appear Madam Yu had approved of his overdone make-up, after all.

Wei Ying sits in a chair as her handmaidens fuss over him for at least half a shichen before they are willing to let him out and be seen in daylight again.

He doesn’t like the rouge that’s been dabbed all over his eyelids, cheeks, and lips. It feels even heavier than usual, like he’s wearing an entirely new layer of skin.

Wei Ying grudgingly gets onto the sedan, where Madam Yu and Jiang Cheng are impatiently waiting for him.

“Now you are presentable,” Madam Yu says upon seeing him, clucking her tongue as she does so.

Wei Ying absent-mindedly reaches for his lone ponytail, and strokes it in silence. At least they left his hair alone. It sits high on his head, tied with his favourite red ribbon.

Jiang Cheng gives him a glance, like even he does not enjoy the sight of his martial brother like this. “It’s too much,” Jiang Cheng mutters. “A-Xian is fine as he is.”

“Nonsense,” Madam Yu says. “You are speaking from the unlearned gaze of a boy. Hanguang-Jun is a man. Shush now, we are already late for our appointment.”

.

.

.

Lan Jingyi, his favourite Gusu Lan disciple, warmly receives them at the gates of Cloud Recesses again.

“Jingyi!” Wei Ying calls out in delight, like the boy is an old friend. “How have you been?”

“Oh,” Lan Jingyi mumbles, getting flustered at the way Wei Ying so confidently takes his hand. “Cloud Recesses is much livelier with you here, for sure!”

Jiang Cheng doesn’t like him, and he makes sure to let that displeasure show when he bumps into Lan Jingyi on purpose as he exits the sedan.

“Young master Jiang,” Lan Jingyi’s voice is curt, but still respectful. “Right this way, please.”

See, this is why Wei Ying likes him—Lan Jingyi actually has bite in him, unlike the rest of the other Lans!

“Ignore him,” Wei Ying says to Lan Jingyi, linking arms with the boy. “He’s always like that. A-Cheng’s just so spoiled, don’t you think?”

“I heard that! I am not spoiled!”

Lan Jingyi smiles, then leans in. “Wei Wuxian, you would not believe what went down between young master Jiang and the Lan elders the other day…!”

.

.

.

Their walk together is full of juvenile laughter and smiles, but the minute they reach the same two paper doors, Lan Jingyi straightens up instantly.

“Hanguang-Jun,” Lan Jingyi announces from the outside, with a slight bow of his head. “Wei Wuxian from the Yunmeng Jiang Sect has arrived.”

Up till this point, Wei Ying had been having so much fun engaging in small talk with the Gusu Lan disciple that he’d almost forgotten the real purpose of his visit today.

He gulps. His heart pounds. And his hands begin to feel so sweaty and clammy, as he watches Lan Jingyi take his leave just to give him the privacy he needs to enter the room on his own.

Wei Ying slides open those paper doors and tiptoes his way in, lacking the same confidence he had before on their initial meeting. His footsteps—quiet and nervous, sauntering into the room in a manner much like a fair maiden.

Just like last time, Hanguang-Jun is already seated down and waiting for him. Wei Ying raises his head, meets those golden eyes that he likes so much, and momentarily forgets to breathe.

Hanguang-Jun sits as poised and graceful as ever, dressed elegantly in pure Gusu Lan white, looking even more handsome than Wei Ying remembers him to be.

Wei Ying quickly takes his seat opposite of him, and silently wonders if Hanguang-Jun has been counting down the days till they’d meet, just as he has.

“Hello,” Wei Ying greets, in a tone much more subdued than before.

Hanguang-Jun’s serene look falters, like he is second-guessing the boy’s enthusiasm for this meeting.

“No pigtails today,” Hanguang-Jun notes, in casual disappointment. “I was rather fond.”

Wei Ying’s fingers dig anxiously into the cushion beneath him, feeling like the man has grown even bolder than before. His eyes drift towards everywhere—but him. “Did you, um, not think it looked a bit, ah, childish, for your tastes?”

“Hm? No,” Hanguang-Jun answers, surprised to hear that Wei Ying would assume this of him. “It suits Wei Ying very much. It reminds me of better days in my youth.”

“Ha…” And yet, Wei Ying can’t help but stifle a giggle when he hears that.

Hanguang-Jun stills. “Yes?”

“Ah, it’s nothing,” Wei Ying wheezes, trying to quieten himself down. Barely five minutes into this meeting, and Wei Ying’s already returning back to his nonsensical self! He truly cannot take anything seriously.

“Wei Ying, I wish to know,” Hanguang-Jun says, doing his best not to sound too urgent—or pressurising.

“Hehe,” Wei Ying giggle-snorts, in the most crude manner possible. “I mean, ‘better days in my youth’? You can’t just say that and not expect me to make a joke about you being a grandpa.”

“Ah,” Hanguang-Jun smiles, when he sees what exactly is the matter. He almost looks relieved to hear that it is not anything worse. “Grandpa is a stretch. At most, a father.”

Wei Ying’s eyes widen, and upon confirmation that he really did just hear what he heard, he shrieks with wild laughter.

“Did you—Did the great Hanguang-jun just—Did you crack a joke?”

“Mn,” Hanguang-Jun muses. “I am always being very serious with Wei Ying.”

I like him, Wei Ying realises at this very second. He makes me feel so comfortable, and I like him so much. Ah, to like someone is such a terrible thing! Shijie will have a field day when she knows about this.

Today, it seems Hanguang-Jun has not come to this meeting empty-handed. Wei Ying gazes before him, and sees that there are plenty of toys strewn about the table. From colourful marbles, to small carved figures of animals and dragons, puppets, masks and even roly-poly figures.

“Oh?” Wei Ying asks, as he picks up a small rattle drum out of interest. “Did you just end a playdate with one of the baby disciples here?”

“No,” Hanguang-Jun hums, as he enjoys the view before him. “I got them for you.”

“You got them for me?”

“Yes, I paid a visit to Caiyi market to get these for you. I thought you would like them. Do you not?”

“Hanguang-Jun—!” Wei Ying’s eyes dart up to him in a heated look, throwing the rattle drum back down onto the table. “You treat me like a child!”

“If you insist on calling me grandfather,” Hanguang-Jun says, looking hardly ruffled. “Then perhaps, you enjoy being a child.”

Ah, so the great Hanguang-Jun knows how to fight back, too.

“You—!” Wei Ying sulks, crossing both his arms in a child’s tantrum.

Hanguang-Jun smiles when he sees this.

“Cute,” he utters quietly, barely meant to be audible for anyone’s ears but himself.

But Wei Ying hears it, he hears it all! He’d wrongfully assumed that Hanguang-Jun saw him as equivalent to a maiden that he’d desire to marry, no, rather, the man thinks of him as a kid!

When Wei Ying refuses to say anything further, keeping his silence for a minute far too long, Hanguang-Jun grows concerned, and decides that perhaps he has crossed the line.

“I apologise,” Hanguang-Jun says, pursing his lips. “I did not intend to wound you. It was all done in jest. Are you mad at me?”

“Hmph.”

“...Wei Ying?”

“Hmph.”

“Wei Ying, I do not know what to make of ‘hmph’.”

“Hmph,” Wei Ying huffs again. “It means ‘hmph’.”

“Does it, by any chance, also mean ‘I forgive you’?”

“No.”

“I see. Then, if you could enlighten me as to what I should do to gain your forgiveness…”

“Who says I’m mad at you?” Wei Ying says, puffing both cheeks in indignance. “You’re not that important to me. I don’t get mad at strangers that I don’t care about!”

Hanguang-Jun’s gaze darkens. The gold in his eyes practically diminishes in favour of an—impenetrable look that seems to conceal every bit of his emotions. “I see.”

“Yeah, so.”

“You are,” Hanguang-Jun exhales, casting Wei Ying a frigid look. “Being very difficult, Wei Ying.”

“Difficult?” Wei Ying repeats, feeling a flash of irritation. “Is that what you think of me?”

“And temperamental, too.”

“Hanguang-Jun! Did you invite me here today just to talk down to me? I may be much younger than you, but I—I have my pride too, you know!” Wei Ying accuses, anger welling up in his chest. He leaps to his feet, eager to excuse himself and take his leave.

He thought wrong about this Hanguang-Jun!

Like hell Wei Ying would ever marry him!

He’ll call this whole thing off! He’ll tell Madam Yu they were a bad fit! Even if he has to contend with Madam Yu’s disappointment, at least—at least he won’t have to put up with these insulting meetings with Hanguang-Jun any longer!

“Wei Ying, sit down.”

Wei Ying whips around into the direction of the door, stubbornly turning his back on the man. “No!”

Hanguang-Jun tries again—this time, with much softer tones, and a sweet affection in his voice that Wei Ying finally recognises. “Wei Ying, I am sorry. Please do not leave me. Sit back down, so we may talk a bit more.”

That has Wei Ying halting in his steps, when he hears the great Hanguang-Jun pleading with him.

Wei Ying is so easily won over, after all. He hears a man begging on his knees, and he feels on top of the world, he feels like he owes it to him not to disappoint him.

Hanguang-Jun sees it is working, and continues. “Wei Ying, I have waited for this meeting with you for far too long. Please do not go.”

Wei Ying tries not to let the glee in his voice show. He clears his throat, and firmly keeps his back turned to him. “It has hardly been two weeks since we last met.”

“It is already too long,” Hanguang-Jun laments. “I could not wait. If you leave, it will devastate me. Will you sit back down, and talk more with me?”

How can Wei Ying deny a man who’s willing to speak such sweet words to him—anything?

Wei Ying merrily skips his way back to the table, and grabs for his cushion once more.

He doesn’t even bother to hide his delight at this point. He just lets it show.

“Closer to me, this time,” Hanguang-Jun asks, respectfully.

Wei Ying hums in agreement, doesn’t even think about it, and positions his cushion right next to Hanguang-Jun.

He becomes chatty again, just like before.

“You know, I don’t understand why only kids can play with toys like these,” Wei Ying begins out of nowhere, as if they hadn’t just gotten into a disagreement just minutes ago. He picks the rattle drum up from the table once more, and excitedly… well, rattles it. “I didn’t get to play much with them when I was a child. Or at all, actually. A-yi was firm on not spoiling us with toys.”

“Hm,” Hanguang-Jun says with a frown, as he listens intently to him talk about his childhood. “You did not get to play?”

“Oh, no, none of that sort of thing,” Wei Ying whines. “It was always practice, practice, practice. A-yi made us study harder than anyone. If we didn’t get a question right, we wouldn’t get lunch!”

“How cruel,” Hanguang-Jun coos. “Wei Ying should get all the lunch he wants.”

“Yes, but that’s just how it was!” Wei Ying moans out, frustrated. “At least we’re older now, and we aren’t subject to such things anymore. But it was always A-yi’s way, or the highway. You know, it really was so terrible! I’m sure you had a way better childhood than me, Hanguang-Jun!”

“Mn,” Hanguang-Jun answers, solemnly. “It was… alright. Shufu is very strict, but I know he means well.”

He does not share more. Nothing about his parents, or his brother, or his family. Wei Ying does not pry.

He is rather interested in other aspects about Hanguang-Jun, however. “What were you like as a child?”

“Ah,” Hanguang-Jun says. “I was a quiet child. My life… much less colourful than yours. You are well-aware that we have to abide by three thousand rules in the Gusu Lan Clan. Any less, and we are punished.”

“Huh,” Wei Ying groans. “That does sound much worse than mine!”

Hanguang-Jun smiles. “If it comforts you, I did not get to play with any toys, too.”

“Oh, Hanguang-Jun, that’s so sad!” Wei Ying wails, unsuspectingly making his way closer to the man. Suddenly feeling a sense of unspoken kinship with Hanguang-Jun, Wei Ying crawls into his lap uninvited, and clasps both hands around Hanguang-Jun’s sad face. “I wish I could have met you as a child! I think we’d be great friends.”

Hanguang-Jun’s quiet breaths are completely stolen from him, as those pretty silver eyes gaze up into his. “I do not think Wei Ying would have liked me.”

“What? Why?” Wei Ying asks, not very much in agreement with that. “I would have loved to be friends with you! I think we’d get along so well.”

“Oh,” Hanguang-Jun whispers, his heart skipping a faint beat.

He rests his hands around Wei Ying’s small waist, holding him in place against his lap.

Wei Ying is such a tiny thing, and he is so unaware of how easy it is to seduce a hot-blooded, grown man.

“Don’t you think so, Hanguang-Jun?” Wei Ying asks again. “Don’t you think we’d have been great friends?”

“Yes,” Hanguang-Jun’s voice comes out strangled, hurried, far quicker than he’d like it to be. “I would have loved to be Wei Ying’s friend. As… as dull as I was.”

“You were not dull,” Wei Ying shakes his head, insisting. “If we could have been friends, I’d have pestered you all the time. You would have been my favourite! I think you’re the most interesting person I’ve met in the world.”

Hanguang-Jun smiles. “Perhaps I would have silently enjoyed Wei Ying’s company, then, as a ‘friend’.”

“Perhaps,” Wei Ying grins.

Finally happy with what he hears, Wei Ying collapses into his embrace, making himself comfortable against the one large arm that has, now, coiled possessively around his waist.

“Hanguang-Jun, I’m going to tell you a secret, but you can’t let your ego swell because of it,” Wei Ying teases, nuzzling his head blissfully against Hanguang-Jun’s chest.

Hanguang-Jun’s slender fingers dig into the boy’s hips. “What is it?”

Wei Ying giggles. “You really, really, really smell so good!”

“Ah,” Hanguang-Jun says, doing his best not to squirm. “It is sandalwood.”

“Sandalwood?”

“Yes, from all the candles I use in my room.”

“Oh! I love it,” Wei Ying says. “Can you get a candle for me, next time?”

“Yes,” Hanguang-Jun murmurs, as his hands begin to quietly slide down Wei Ying’s hips—down to his thighs, instead. Wei Ying is too preoccupied with his chatter with the man to notice. “I make all of them myself. I will make plenty to gift Wei Ying, for next time.”

“Hanguang-Jun, you’re a man of many talents! You handmake candles, too? Wow, a-yi would kill to have a son like you! Hahaha, shijie makes candles for us sometimes, but they smell like lotus instead! Hey, I was wondering…”

For the rest of the afternoon, Wei Ying continues to sit in Hanguang-Jun’s lap as he talks his ear off, telling him anything and everything about Yunmeng Jiang underneath the sun.

And Hanguang-Jun’s hands—they make themselves comfortable by resting right against Wei Ying's legs, absent-mindedly stroking the sides of his thighs with nothing but his thumb.

They are so close, Hanguang-Jun could lean in and kiss him.

But Wei Ying is not ready yet.

.

.

.

“You are doing everything right,” Madam Yu tells Wei Ying with pleasure, when they get their third invitation to return to Cloud Recesses for the third time in a row. “You have earned Hanguang-Jun’s favour! Keep this up, and we will have a wedding in spring.”

“What’s so good about Hanguang-Jun, anyway?” Jiang Cheng grumbles. “He’s old! What could A-Xian possibly have in common with him? For him to be interested in our A-Xian, isn’t he just like any other lecherous old man out there?”

“He’s an immortal,” Madam Yu scolds. “Jiang Wanyin, you’re one to talk. I can only hope you reach half of his potential by the time you are thirty. You better hope that Wei Wuxian marries the man, so he can put in a good word for you with Gusu Lan!”

“I don’t care about Gusu Lan!”

“Jiang Wanyin, you’re my least favourite child right now.”

Now that things are getting serious, Madam Yu is no longer content with the haphazard manner in which Wei Ying dresses himself in for these betrothal meetings. It is simply not enough. Madam Yu instructs the tailors to make Wei Ying new robes, ones that are of silk and in sweet lavender, much like the ones Jiang Yanli wears.

“At the end of the day, you are still representing Yunmeng Jiang,” she fusses over him.

His hair, too, no longer allowed to be casually pulled back into a ponytail. She instructs her handmaidens to braid it rather elaborately in intricate patterns, curling it into two twin buns on his head, much like his shijie.

Complete with rouge slathered on his face, Wei Ying looks like the perfect copy of his martial sister.

But it is still Wei Ying.

He’s uncomfortable the entire sedan ride to Cloud Recesses, constantly squirming in his robes that feel overly tight and far too silky for him. Do men particularly enjoy it when you get dressed up for them like this? Wei Ying thinks the whole fanare of it all is plain ridiculous. But he remembers Hanguang-Jun lamenting the loss of his pigtails the other time, and thinks, just perhaps, he may like the twin buns this time. Madam Yu is older, so she knows these things. Wei Ying does not. Perhaps it is well and good to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Upon arriving at Cloud Recesses, he goes through the motions as usual: he says hi to Lan Jingyi, drops Madam Yu and Jiang Cheng off with the Lan elders, then obediently follows Lan Jingyi to where he must go to meet Hanguang-Jun.

With every meeting, his friendship with Lan Jingyi deepens. This time, he made sure to bring some lotus seeds along with him to gift to the boy.

“I know you said you wanted to try some, since you’ve never been to Yunmeng,” Wei Ying says, tossing to him a purple pouch that bears the Yunmeng Jiang Sect’s crest. “Until you get to pay us a visit, you can sample these in the meantime!”

“Wow!” Lan Jingyi’s eyes sparkle, as he catches it in his hands. “Wei Wuxian, you’re the best!”

They continue to banter with each other during their walk, joking and laughing freely in the absence of Madam Yu and Jiang Cheng.

That is, until they turn the corner and come face-to-face with a Hanguang-Jun who looms high and tall, waiting outside the paper doors with such a dark look on his face, looking extremely displeased with the merriment he has heard filling the air for some time now.

“You are late,” Hanguang-Jun snaps, turning to them, his words clipped. “Lan Jingyi, I expected better.”

Lan Jingyi leaps to attention. “Hanguang-Jun!”

“A-Ah,” Wei Ying hurries to defuse the tension between them. “Hanguang-Jun! I’m sorry, the weather wasn’t the best today. We arrived at Cloud Recesses a little later than usual. It wasn’t Jingyi’s fault, I promise!”

Hanguang-Jun’s gaze narrows, looking even more vexed by his interjection. “Why are you protecting him?”

“W…What?”

“If I wish to lecture Jingyi on the Gusu Lan rules, what is it to you? This matter does not concern you.”

Standing right before Hanguang-Jun like this, listening to him speak in such a cold, chilling tone to him—the stark difference between them, in height and in position, is made all too clear to Wei Ying. This is the great Hanguang-Jun he is speaking to. Not some random man picked off the street that Wei Ying is going to casually get betrothed to.

All of their previous meetings had taken place when they were both seated, gazing at each other at eye-level. (Hanguang-Jun has always been much taller than Wei Ying, yes, but it is much less obvious when they are both on the ground.) So, things felt much more… equal, then. Like Wei Ying was merely in the company of a friend.

On foot, Hanguang-Jun’s presence becomes all too lofty, too imposing. Even the way the sunlight falls on his face, accentuating his strong, masculine jaw, makes him look so impossible to reach—in a manner much like a god. With every step that he takes, his heavy Gusu Lan robes move with him, looking as though they weigh him down with every movement. And yet he moves with ease, with direction, with purpose. Like he knows exactly what he needs to do, where he needs to be.

What he must say, just to get his way.

Wei Ying would swoon if he weren’t so mad at him.

He rushes up to Hanguang-Jun, nevermind how much shorter and smaller he is now that they’re chest-to-chest, and loudly protests, “Jingyi is my friend! Of course this concerns me!”

“Ahhh, Wei Wuxian! Don’t worry about me! Hanguang-Jun is right! Next time, I will make sure to get our guests here on time! Hanguang-Jun, I will now take my leave!”

Lan Jingyi may as well have been speaking to no one. Hanguang-Jun hardly acknowledges his words.

“Jingyi is your friend?” Hanguang-Jun sneers, as he takes a step forward. He snatches hold of Wei Ying’s wrist, raising it high up in the air. “Much like I am your friend, Wei Ying?”

Lan Jingyi hurriedly chimes in, “Han… Hanguang-Jun! Wei Wuxian meant nothing by that—”

“Go.”

“Wha—”

“Lan Jingyi,” Hanguang-Jun barks, reminding him to remember his place. “I said ‘Go’.”

And so Lan Jingyi takes off with his tail between his legs, knowing better than to disobey Hanguang-Jun.

“Just like you are my friend,” Wei Ying says rather hotly, refusing to back down. “What is it to you that Jingyi is my friend?”

“We are not friends,” Hanguang-Jun counters, darkly. “You are my betrothed.”

Wei Ying’s silver eyes flare wide open, having not expected to hear such a thing. “I… I am?”

They’d only met for a total of two times, and Hanguang-Jun had but given a scarce indication that he had finalised his decision on the matter. Wei Ying did not realise that Hanguang-Jun had already long made up his mind.

“You are,” Hanguang-Jun insists, in a tone far less domineering than before. “And you will do well to remember it, the next time you are alone in the presence of another boy.”

Wei Ying’s knees wobble. He is so weak.

With Wei Ying’s wrist still firmly in his grasp, he tugs Wei Ying along into the chambers, where their usual cushions lie.

Wei Ying stumbles just slightly as he follows after the man, his small, dainty feet unable to keep up with Hanguang-Jun’s big footsteps, especially in these tight robes.

When he sees his cushion, he tries to take a seat, but Hanguang-Jun jerks him back into his hold instead.

“With me,” Hanguang-Jun indicates.

Wei Ying is manoeuvred much like a doll, falling right into Hanguang-Jun’s lap as the man takes his seat instead.

“So bossy,” Wei Ying sulks, pounding empty fists against Hanguang-Jun’s chest. “Who knew the great Hanguang-Jun was such a tyrant? Why are you so mean to Jingyi? He looks up to you so much! I’m sure Jingyi won’t like you anymore.”

“I do not care if Jingyi likes me or not.”

“Well, maybe you should!” Wei Ying complains. “As a senior cultivator, you should be nicer to your juniors! If not, they’ll call you names and talk about you behind your back!”

“And why should that concern me?”

“Hanguang-Jun, have you no heart?!!” There is just no reasoning with this man. Wei Ying gives up.

“I do not care,” Hanguang-Jun grunts. “They are not Wei Ying.”

Wei Ying halts in his scolding. For just a bit. “Why does that even matter?”

“I only care about what you think of me,” Hanguang-Jun says, as a matter-of-fact. “I only care whether Wei Ying likes me.”

Just like that, Wei Ying becomes giddy again.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Wei Ying huffs, even though he’s now happily twirling his stray bangs that frame the sides of his face. “Who said I liked you?!”

“You have not,” Hanguang-Jun agrees, quietly. Gazing deeply back into Wei Ying’s eyes, he asks, with just the slightest apprehension, “Do you…”

Such a sight stuns Wei Ying. Hanguang-Jun never gets nervous! He has only ever been certain about everything that he does.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Wei Ying goes on to tease, only because he is a brat.

If Hanguang-Jun wants a confession out of him, then he’s going to have to force it out of him!

Oddly enough, Hanguang-Jun does not seem exasperated by this. He only smiles softly to himself, enjoying Wei Ying’s playfulness.

“I waited far too long for you to arrive,” Hanguang-Jun says now that he has calmed down, in what Wei Ying believes to be his best attempt at a whine. He leans against Wei Ying’s shoulder, nosing his way up into the boy’s neck, like he’s badly seeking comfort for having been made to wait for so long. “Next time, perhaps I should come to you.”

Wei Ying can’t help but lean back in until he can feel Hanguang-Jun’s heavy breaths against his skin, until he can feel Hanguang-Jun’s soft lips meet his neck. He’s not even sure what he’s doing. He just knows that he likes it—likes being close in proximity to Hanguang-Jun, likes being wanted by the older man. “I thought older men were more patient.”

“Mn,” Hanguang-Jun hums, resting his hand gently on the side of Wei Ying’s upper thigh. “Would Wei Ying prefer if I were more patient?”

“Uhh,” Wei Ying hiccups, just as Hanguang-Jun’s palms grope the lean chunk of his thigh. The robes Wei Ying wears are made of pure silk, and so they slip easily down in this awkward position that he sits in, revealing a huge expanse of milky, baby skin for Hanguang-Jun to feel up. Those long fingers of Hanguang-Jun’s rub up and down Wei Ying’s skin in a continuous motion as he speaks, like caressing prized meat that he has rightfully hunted. “Um… uh…”

Wei Ying’s mind blanks. This is the first time he’s becoming all too aware that Hanguang-Jun is taking liberties with him—becoming intimate with him, in places he has not been touched before by anyone else.

Hanguang-Jun is not fazed by his lack of an answer. “Wei Ying looks beautiful with his hair bunned up, today.”

The boy swallows. “I thought you might like it…”

“Mn,” Hanguang-Jun agrees. “It makes Wei Ying look like a proper maiden, from Yunmeng Jiang.”

“Ha…!” Wei Ying snorts, slowly relaxing now that Hanguang-Jun is distracting him with mindless conversation. “It is heavy, though. Madam Yu made them insert like fifty golden pins into my hair!”

“Mm,” Hanguang-Jun nods, as he admires the handiwork from afar. “How pretty.”

“Umm,” Wei Ying grows shy again. “I mean, if you like it…”

“I love it,” Hanguang-Jun says, planting a soft kiss onto his shoulder. “Wei Ying in Yunmeng Jiang colours is very pretty. Lavender suits you.”

Wei Ying’s too embarrassed to look back up at him. “Thank you…?”

“Do you think you will wear more Yunmeng Jiang colours when you come to live here, in Cloud Recesses?” Hanguang-Jun asks, with a hum. “It would be customary of you to wear Gusu Lan white, of course. But considering you came from Yunmeng Jiang, shufu will not begrudge you if you choose to wear some lavender every now and then.”

The reality of it all—becoming Hanguang-Jun’s betrothed—has hardly even sunk in, and now the man is asking him about colours!

“I don’t know,” Wei Ying squeaks. “I don’t… I don’t really have a…”

He doesn’t even know what it means to have a husband!

“Mn, you are right,” Hanguang-Jun agrees. “It is still early days. You can decide that later.”

“Um.. Are you, are you not,” Wei Ying asks anxiously, writhing plenty in his position.

He can feel Hanguang-Jun’s breaths on him growing more rapid, growing much heavier, even if he’s not sure why.

“Are you not meeting with any other maidens, before you make your decision?” Wei Ying asks.

Hanguang-Jun stirs out of his heated daze, just to answer the question. “Maidens?”

“Yes, um, for the, uh,” Wei Ying says. “Betrothal.”

“No,” Hanguang-Jun immediately says. “There are no other maidens.”

“No?” Wei Ying gasps—just as he feels Hanguang-Jun’s fingers move to palm gently at his front.

In between his thighs.

Where they haven’t gone before. “Eek?!”

“I am not interested in any other,” Hanguang-Jun continues to say. He applies just the slightest bit of pressure against where he touches, and finds himself handsomely rewarded with a sharp intake of Wei Ying’s breath.

Followed by an uncontrollable shudder as Wei Ying moans softly, underneath his breath, at the tingling sensation he feels down below.

“Just you.”

“Just… just me?” Wei Ying hiccups, starting to squirm uncomfortably within Hanguang-Jun’s hold.

He tries to move, but Hanguang-Jun holds him—no, grips him in place. By touching him, oh, by touching him there.

This is—the way he’s touching him—it’s all incredibly new to him, it’s all so foreign and exciting. Wei Ying has never had anyone touch him there before.

Even if it’s still over the thin layer of cloth that he wears underneath his robes—that act as underwear.

(They are lacy. Madam Yu had made sure of that, even if Wei Ying wasn’t sure why before.

He thinks he knows, now.

Madam Yu was simply taking precaution.)

“Just you,” Hanguang-Jun hums, as he shifts forward, such that the front of his chest is now colliding with Wei Ying’s back. He dips his head into the crook of Wei Ying’s neck, kissing him and nibbling him softly there. Wei Ying anxiously squeezes his eyes shut, quickly dissolving in a shivering mess. He’s not so sure what’s going on. And why—why suddenly all of Hanguang-Jun’s touches feel so good. “You will be my wife soon. Are you happy?”

Wei Ying stutters out, “W…Wife?”

“Mn,” Hanguang-Jun says, his hand applying pressure against the front of—Wei Ying can’t even say it—the wet spot in between his legs. “Wei Ying will make such a good and pretty wife for me, staying in Cloud Recesses and giving me all the children I want.”

Wei Ying should hate it. Logically, Wei Ying should abhor that idea. It’s everything that he’s been fighting against, for so long. He’d come into this meeting with Hanguang-Jun determined on ruining his every chance of getting married. And yet, it seems like the cards were stacked against him, from day one.

Everything that he did, Hanguang-Jun seemed to like.

Everything that he was—Hanguang-Jun absolutely loved.

“I, I d-don’t want that,” Wei Ying gulps, even if he knows how he really feels deep down inside.

He wants to become Hanguang-Jun’s wife so goddamn badly, Heaven help him!

He wants that picturesque dream that floods his brain everytime he thinks of marrying Hanguang-Jun and becoming part of the Gusu Lan Clan, for real; dressed in Gusu Lan white, his belly heavy and swell with Hanguang-Jun’s child.

They’d live in a nice cottage on the outskirts of Cloud Recesses, overlooking the best view of Caiyi town and Biling lake.

Hanguang-Jun coming out of their cottage to embrace him from behind, as they enjoy the scenery together.

It’s nauseating, even, to realise the extent to which he has fantasised about his life together with Hanguang-Jun.

It’s even more intoxicating to know that he is so close to it.

“Wei Ying does not want that?” Hanguang-Jun questions, in a tone that can only be described as disapproving—and deep displeasure. “Wei Ying does not wish to be Lan-furen?”

He squeezes Wei Ying’s… there, and Wei Ying can’t help but let out a shrill of a moan.

Oh, god, it’s so good.

“Why do you reject me so,” Hanguang-Jun grits his teeth, saying. He increases the pace at which he fondles with Wei Ying, his thumb flicking over and over again at the top of Wei Ying’s wet pussy. “Do you think a boy like Jingyi can satisfy you? Will pleasure you like this? Play with your sloppy cunt like I can?”

Fuck.

Wei Ying gasps, as he feels slick begin to gush out of his folds below at an alarming rate. “Han, Hanguang-Jun…!”

“Do you?” Hanguang-Jun bellows again, all pissed off. He begins to use a total of two fingers against Wei Ying’s front, rubbing insistently in a precise motion right at his clit, the spot which makes Wei Ying shudder and scream the best. Wei Ying is so sensitive and tiny, and Hanguang-Jun’s fingers are so long and big and—fuck. They almost cover his entire pussy.

Wei Ying completely soaks through his underwear, his thighs a quivering mess.

“Do you hate me?” Hanguang-Jun breathes out, lips moving to desperately bite at Wei Ying’s ear. “Do you loathe me? Do you not desire me?”

“Aah, aah, Hanguang-Jun, you’re so different today…!” Wei Ying cries out, as he writhes and thrashes in Hanguang-Jun’s embrace.

And yet the man refuses to relinquish his hold on him one bit. He licks and he bites, and he gropes and he squeezes.

The end result is a sweaty, red-faced Wei Ying who becomes completely drunk on his lust, humping Hanguang-Jun’s hand like he absolutely cannot get enough of the hard friction he feels against his cunt.

“Tell me if you loathe me,” Hanguang-Jun orders, whilst sucking on the boy’s flushed earlobe.

“I, I, I like you so much, Hanguang-Jun,” Wei Ying sobs, as he continues riding Hanguang-Jun’s hand.

But it’s not enough for the man.

“Then tell me what Wei Ying likes about me,” Hanguang-Jun hisses into his ear, gripping Wei Ying still.

Like this, Wei Ying cannot move an inch.

It’s too much for the boy to bear. His pussy is dripping wet and on fire, and he craves the climax that he deserves.

“I like everything about you,” Wei Ying whines, as shimmery tears roll down from his eyes. “I like the way you talk to me, touch me, kiss me, I, uhh, hhhhh, Hanguang-Jun, please, I beg…”

“Will you be a good boy, and marry me and become my wife?”

“Yes, yes, yes, I will,” Wei Ying mewls, ready to get on his knees at this point. “I’ll become whatever you want, whatever you need, whatever you tell me to be, I’ll become yours and only yours, Hanguang-Jun…!”

Hanguang-Jun is finally appeased with what he hears, and so he loosens his grasp, just slightly, on the boy.

Now that he is free to do as he pleases, Wei Ying rides him urgently like never before, rubbing his clothed cunt over and over against the rugged hand underneath him. Wei Ying is such a fast learner, mastering the art of gyrating his hips in a way that gives him the most amount of pleasure despite never ever having done this in his life.

Hanguang-Jun kisses his neck greedily until Wei Ying spills with a gorgeous cry, drenching Hanguang-Jun’s hand with an incredible amount of wet slick.

By the time it’s all done, Wei Ying passes out against his chest, the beautiful braided buns atop his head already unravelling amidst all of that sweat and perspiration. The rouge on his cheeks becomes overshadowed by the natural redness of his face as he struggles to catch his breath, coming down from the impossible high of his rich orgasm.

Hanguang-Jun looks at him so adoringly, like he cannot imagine a more beautiful bride.

“I love you so much,” he whispers, barely above a breath.

Wei Ying does not catch that. “W…What?” he asks, rousing up slowly. His long, dark lashes flutter up to meet Hanguang-Jun’s, as Wei Ying gradually returns to reality. “What did you say?”

Hanguang-Jun merely smiles. Choosing to place both of his hands onto Wei Ying’s waist instead, hoisting the boy back up to face him, he asks, “Did Wei Ying enjoy himself?”

“Ah…” Wei Ying’s too shy to answer the question head-on. Now that he’s a bit more clear-headed, it’s so embarrassing to confront what just went down between them. “It was… ah… I haven’t ever… before…”

Hanguang-Jun’s eyebrow raises. “Have you not pleasured yourself in your own time before, Wei Ying?”

Wei Ying doesn’t even know what that means. With no clue as to what to say, he shakes his head, and looks shamefully down at his lap. His entire face has turned a bright scarlet.

“I see,” Hanguang-Jun says, even more pleased after learning this fact. “Wei Ying is so young and sweet.”

“I-I’m not…” Wei Ying stammers, lacking the energy to even protest.

“Do not worry,” Hanguang-Jun’s hand reaches for his jaw, tilting his head back up to face him. Wei Ying stares back into golden eyes—ones that are so gentle and reassuring, and full of nothing but love and devotion for the boy. “We have the time. I will teach you more.”

“M-More?” Wei Ying rushes to ask, unable to believe that there can even be more. “Will they… Will they feel as good as this…?”

“Mn,” Hanguang-Jun promises him. “Even better.”

Wei Ying rocks against Hanguang-Jun’s lap at this point in time, and startles when he feels something so rock hard and solid.

But there’s been enough activity for the day. Wei Ying thinks he will ask about that, the next time that they meet.

.

.

.

Wei Ying is back at Cloud Recesses before he even knows it.

Seated right against Hanguang-Jun’s lap, as has become his usual—and only—seat whenever he comes over, as always.

Hanguang-Jun’s hands resting comfortably around his thighs, leisurely stroking circles against Wei Ying’s skin as usual.

“Madam Yu is beside herself with joy,” Wei Ying tells Hanguang-Jun, as he sucks avidly on a stick of tanghulu that he remembered to bring over, this time. “She’s been making appointments with all of the best tailors in town. She says the colours will have to match the ones in spring. I think it’s all so ridiculous! But it’s so nice not being the one yelled at, for once.”

“Mn,” Hanguang-Jun says, as he quietly listens to all that Wei Ying has to tell him. After their last meeting, he’d officially made known to the Lan elders as well as Yunmeng Jiang his intentions to take Wei Ying as his betrothed, and upon their acceptance—Madam Yu could not accept fast enough—set their engagement plans into motion. Madam Yu insists on a wedding in spring. Hanguang-Jun does not object, since that is only two months away. The quicker they officiate this union, the better.

“I think Madam Yu is not ridiculous. Wei Ying will be the most beautiful bride.”

Wei Ying almost chokes on the candy in his mouth. He huffingly punches Hanguang-Jun’s chest and says, “Don’t just spring that on me!”

“Why? Am I wrong?” Hanguang-Jun frowns. “Wei Ying deserves the best for our wedding.”

“What a sweet-talker,” Wei Ying whines. He sucks happily on his tanghulu anyway, relishing in all of Hanguang-Jun’s love and attention. “Say, you never told me why you were suddenly looking to marry.”

“Hm?”

“Yeah, what’s up with that? Is it because your brother’s still in seclusion, or what?” Wei Ying thoughtlessly asks, only realising how awful he is to encroach on such sensitive territory a second later. “Uhh, umm, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“It is alright,” Hanguang-Jun hums, as he lovingly pats at Wei Ying’s head with one hand. “You are right, my brother is in seclusion and has been in seclusion for a long time. The Lan elders are concerned about the future of our clan, but that is not the reason why I began looking for a wife.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Huh,” Wei Ying does a loud slurp of his candied fruit. “Then why?”

Hanguang-Jun smiles. “Would you believe me if I told you that I saw you on the streets once, fell deeply in love with you, and wanted an excuse to see you again and make you mine?”

Wei Ying bursts out in laughter, snorting through his tears. “Of course not!” It’s the most ludicrous thing he has ever heard.

“Mn,” Hanguang-Jun shrugs. “I thought so.” He tried.

“Come on, tell me the real reason why!”

“Alright,” Hanguang-Jun says, with a sigh. He reluctantly admits, “I was… lonely.”

“Lonely?” Wei Ying’s interest is piqued. “You? Lonely?”

“Yes,” Hanguang-Jun answers, with utmost seriousness. “I’d started becoming very lonely, on all of my travels, and even during my stays here in Gusu. I thought, if I found someone I could come home to at night, perhaps there would be more meaning to life.”

“Oh,” Wei Ying says, suddenly overcome with sadness for the man. How many nights had Hanguang-Jun spent alone, all by himself, and how badly had Hanguang-Jun yearned for company all this while? It must be hard, not having a family like how Wei Ying has Jiang Cheng and shijie. “I thought, maybe, helping the common folk would be enough…”

“It is,” Hanguang-Jun spares him a glance. “Just… not enough.”

“Ah.” So even heroes can get lonely at night, too.

“And now that my heart yearns for another,” Hanguang-Jun offers him a soft smile. “I finally see what I have been missing all this time.”

Wei Ying flushes bright red. “Y…You do?”

“Mn.”

“Um… So what does it feel like?”

Hanguang-Jun squints at him—at the very insinuation of his words. “I do not know,” this time, he’s the one huffing. “You tell me.”

Wei Ying cracks up. “I’m sorry, I was just teasing!”

Hanguang-Jun’s frown gives way to a smile again, so easily, taking no effort from him at all. “My Wei Ying,” he murmurs, kissing the top of Wei Ying’s head gently. “I dream of you so.”

Wei Ying’s heart races. He paws at Hanguang-Jun’s chest and mindlessly asks, “Do you think that, ah, after we get married, I can, hmm, possibly join you on your, um, travels…?”

It’s a difficult question to ask. Wei Ying has been wanting to ask this for a long time now.

What better way to fulfil his dream than to do it with Hanguang-Jun by his side?

“You wish to travel with me?” Hanguang-Jun asks, curiously.

“Yes, as a fellow cultivator,” Wei Ying whispers with shiny eyes, tugging cutely at Hanguang-Jun’s front robes. “Can I?”

Hanguang-Jun does not hesitate to say yes. “It would be my pleasure to have you come along with me,” he says, gazing down at Wei Ying so sweetly. “But it might not happen for a while.”

Wei Ying’s face instantly falls, and he clamours to ask insistently, “Why?!”

“You will most likely become pregnant after the wedding,” Hanguang-Jun states, without a second thought. “I do not think it wise for you to travel when you are heavy with child. We have the best healers here in Gusu, and they will be at your beck and call should you remain here.”

Once again, Wei Ying is stumped by the boldness of Hanguang-Jun sir.

“P…Pregnant?” Wei Ying stammers.

“Yes,” Hanguang-Jun says to him, bestowing soft kisses all over his face, from his eyelids, to his nose, to above his lips. “Pregnant. With my child.”

“Umm,” Wei Ying cannot contain the sheer desire that blazes through him at the very thought. “Don’t babies take really long to conceive? Maybe we can squeeze a trip or two before it happens…”

Wei Ying’s not even sure what he’s talking about!

“No,” Hanguang-Jun asserts, with full certainty. “You will become pregnant after the wedding.”

He always says these things unflinchingly, without any shame!

But, well, when you’re the Hanguang-Jun, it is not like there would be any reason to doubt your own virility…

“Then, after we have the child, can I come with you?” Wei Ying asks, timidly.

Hanguang-Jun smiles at him. “Of course, baobei.”

Now Wei Ying is beside himself with glee.

He gets to marry the man of his dreams, and become a great cultivator, like he always wanted!

Now that Wei Ying’s been put in a good mood, he’s throwing his arms around Hanguang-Jun’s neck and happily grinding his hips against the older man, like an overly excited kitten.

“I like you so much, Hanguang-Jun!” Wei Ying exclaims, just as he finishes sucking at the rest of his tanghulu.

…And then begins sucking at a new, well, rod, when he does.

Hanguang-Jun guides the omega’s head gently down to his lap, where he easily parts his white robes; where rather conveniently, there is an opening.

“It is good to show appreciation for your elders,” Hanguang-Jun advises him, with a hand in his hair. “And you like me so much, do you not, Wei Ying?”

Wei Ying’s heart rises to his throat when he answers breathily with a, “Yes.”

Hanguang-Jun pushes his robes to the side, and pulls out an erect cock of impressive length and girth. Wei Ying has never seen one his size before. Being an omega, and one that has been accepted into the main Yunmeng Jiang family at that, he does not shower much with the other boys back at Yunmeng Jiang, preferring to only take a bath with either his own kind or by himself after practice. There is simply no opportunity to mix with alphas that would offer him a chance to see their… well, goods. Jiang Cheng may be one, but he is even less in touch with his sexuality than Wei Ying is. And Wei Ying is already as oblivious as can be.

Wei Ying does not understand the hunger that grows inside of him when he lays eyes on Hanguang-Jun’s cock, looking gorgeously fat and full of veins. Wei Ying hesitantly wraps both of his hands around it, wondering how it’d feel like in his grasp. It feels even huger than it looks. Or perhaps Wei Ying’s hands are simply too small? He gives it a tentative squeeze, and gasps when he sees it throb in response.

And then the most magical thing happens. It hardens and grows even bigger right in front of his eyes, jutting out confidently in the cold air.

“It can react like that?” Wei Ying asks, raising his gaze up.

He sees that Hanguang-Jun’s eyes are already half-lidded with pleasure, his lips slightly parted.

“Yes,” Hanguang-Jun breathes.

Wei Ying must be doing something right, and so he strokes it a bit more, fondling the rapidly hardening cock with renewed enthusiasm. Each time his hands slide down the member, it seems like the head shudders, and secretes whitish fluid. It captures Wei Ying’s interest, and has him lowering his mouth to the tip to dart his tongue out for a sneaky lick, wondering what it might taste like.

Hanguang-Jun’s thighs tremble slightly, when he feels Wei Ying’s warm tongue on him.

“Huh,” Wei Ying mumbles to himself. “Salty.”

He looks back up at Hanguang-Jun, and sees such a dark look in his eyes. “Han…Hanguang-Jun?”

“Wei Ying,” Hanguang-Jun says, in such a strained whisper. Grabbing a fistful of Wei Ying’s hair, he gently steers him back down to where his mouth needs to be. “Your whole mouth. This time.”

“Oh?” Wei Ying blinks. “Really? Would that feel good for you?”

Hanguang-Jun cannot get his answer out fast enough. “Yes,” he sighs.

And Wei Ying lives to please. So he bends his head down and opens his tiny mouth as wide as he can, doing his best to fit the head of Hanguang-Jun’s cock in whole.

It’s an excruciating task. Wei Ying’s delicate jaw already hurts. But once he gets the head in, the rest of it is easy to ease in further. He only gets to about half of Hanguang-Jun’s length before he feels like he has reached his limit.

Any more, and it’d hit the back of his throat.

“Oh,” Hanguang-Jun groans, when he feels just how tightly his cock fits in the crevice of Wei Ying’s mouth. “Oh, Wei Ying.”

Wei Ying can hardly say a word in this state. For a moment, he’s not all too sure what he needs to do. But then his wandering eyes fall upon the tanghulu stick that he’d eaten off of and promptly discarded onto the floor afterwards, and decides—rather intuitively—that sucking should be his next move here. So he does just that. He sucks. He slurps. He uses his little tongue to lap at those veins he’s growing incredibly fond of, as his two hands wrap and stroke around the rest of the cock that his mouth can’t reach.

“Fuck, Wei Ying…”

Those slender fingers in Wei Ying’s hair are quick to push and pull, guiding him into a pace that’s exactly just how Hanguang-Jun likes it. But of course the man takes care to be gentle and sweet-tempered, never forcing Wei Ying too much if the boy shows any sign of discomfort. He loves Wei Ying far too much for that.

“Just like that, baobei, you are already getting so good at this.”

Positive reinforcement—exactly what Wei Ying craves! He’s too happy to do whatever Hanguang-Jun asks of him, working at him with his mouth and never stopping, softly sucking at whichever spot pleases Hanguang-Jun.

Eventually, Wei Ying slips into a routine and pace that seems to work for the both of them. With his head bobbing in between of Hanguang-Jun’s thighs, Wei Ying is the perfect picture of docileness and subservience, kneeling before his man to pleasure him as any dutiful wife-to-be would.

Hanguang-Jun never stood a chance. He lowers his gaze to take a better look at Wei Ying like this, and feels himself being pushed to the very edge when he sees the way Wei Ying beautifully flushes as he continues sucking, determined to make his man feel as good as he possibly can. With strands of hair sweatily and messily sticking to his face, Wei Ying pauses momentarily when he realises he’s being watched to lift his head, just so his pretty silver eyes can meet Hanguang-Jun’s.

They twinkle in happiness, curving up into happy slits, like Wei Ying is just so excited to be here with Hanguang-Jun.

Then Wei Ying is fluttering his feathery lashes back down once more, just so he can continue to push Hanguang-Jun further down his throat, until he can take no more.

Hanguang-Jun feels a rush of heat and pleasure speeding through him, and he immediately throws his head back, gritting his teeth as he spills with the soft cry of Wei Ying’s name on his lips. He slackens his grip on Wei Ying’s hair, in case the boy wishes to pull away and evade the torrent of fluid his way. Wei Ying does not. In fact, he is more enthusiastic than ever, guzzling down every drop of cum that Hanguang-Jun has to offer him.

Wei Ying only pulls his mouth off of him when Hanguang-Jun has no more left to give, and even then, the boy is eagerly licking pre-cum off his stained fingers.

“You are,” Hanguang-Jun says incredulously, when he returns to his senses. “Unbelievable.”

Wei Ying only glows even more underneath his praise. He sings, “What does that even mean?”

“It means,” Hanguang-Jun answers, just as Wei Ying zealously climbs back into his arms. “It means I love Wei Ying more than you can ever imagine.”

“Hehe,” Wei Ying giggles, as he buries his head into Hanguang-Jun’s shoulder. “I like you so much, too.”

“Not love?”

“Mm, like,” Wei Ying teases, for no reason other than that he is a brat. “I like Hanguang-Jun better than anyone else. Shouldn’t that be enough?”

“No,” Hanguang-Jun insists, with a frown. “I am very greedy, and I want more.”

.

.

.

“What do you even do during those meetings with Hanguang-Jun?” Jiang Cheng asks, as he kicks at a stone on the grounds of Lotus Pier.

Wei Ying nervously laughs as he falls into step with him. “We talk…?”

“What is there to even talk about?” Jiang Cheng snorts in disbelief. “Why do you guys have to meet so much? Isn’t the matter of your betrothal already decided? Can’t you just see him again on your wedding day? It’s not like you’re not going to be able to see him everyday after that.”

“Well, it’s better to get to know one another and begin a relationship with each other before that happens,” Wei Ying explains. “Aiya, Jiang Cheng! You’re a virgin, you can’t possibly understand.”

“And you’re not?” Jiang Cheng questions, with much suspicion.

Oops.

“At least I’ve held Hanguang-Jun’s hand!” Wei Ying hurriedly says, before Jiang Cheng gets the wrong idea. “And I’ve held multiple conversations with him! Meanwhile, you’re unable to hold a conversation with anyone that isn’t me or shijie!”

“I’m an alpha, I don’t have to care!” Jiang Cheng protests. “When the time comes, a-niang will find me a suitable cultivation partner, like she found one for you!”

“Like you’re ever going to meet anyone as great a calibre as my Hanguang-Jun!” Wei Ying huffs. “You wish!”

“I don’t care, he’s old anyway!”

“He’s an immortal, dumbass! He can look younger if he wishes,” Wei Ying argues. “He just doesn’t! Because he looks perfect the way he is!”

“I guess you’re all-ready to leave Yunmeng Jiang, then!” Jiang Cheng fumes, clearly antagonised by Wei Ying’s remarks. “Just go off, and be with your Hanguang-Jun! Don’t come back!”

…Jiang Cheng may be quick to anger, but his intentions have also always been incredibly transparent.

And Wei Ying is suddenly struck with the realisation of, how could I have missed this before? Jiang Cheng doesn’t want me to go.

“Hey, it’s not like I won’t return to visit you and shijie from time to time,” Wei Ying says, quickly lowering the sting of his tone. “You know I will always consider myself a part of Yunmeng Jiang, right?”

All at once, Jiang Cheng knows he has been seen through. He turns away and mutters under his breath, “Whatever. Do whatever you want.”

“I promise I will come back!” Wei Ying hurriedly says. “Plus, you’ll have to visit! Hanguang-Jun and I, we’ll have many children for sure! They’ll have to get to know their jiujiu! A-Cheng, promise me you’ll come visit?”

He thought that would be the right thing to say to cheer Jiang Cheng up, but the boy proceeds to fold his arms and glare right back at him. “What’s gotten into you?! Why are you even thinking of children?!”

Great, Wei Ying only made it worse.

“A few weeks ago, you said you’d rather die than be a stay-at-home omega and bear children for an alpha!”

“Ughhh, A-Cheng, people change!” Wei Ying whines. “Maybe Hanguang-Jun changed my mind!”

“I don’t like this Hanguang-Jun!”

“You don’t like anyone besides me and shijie, Jiang Cheng!”

Jiang Cheng lands with another outburst, “Then maybe you should stay!”

And how can Wei Ying ever stay mad at him when he’s being so embarrassingly honest with his own feelings?

“I can’t stay,” Wei Ying murmurs, his gaze softening. “You know that, right?”

“Fine! Whatever!” Jiang Cheng yells, turning on his heels and running away in the opposite direction. “Like I said, do whatever you like!”

Wei Ying stares at his fading back, wondering what he ever did to deserve such a brother who cares for him so.

.

.

.

“Can you, ah, do me a favour?” Wei Ying gasps out, as he sinks down on incredibly large fingers that stretch him so.

“What is it,” Hanguang-Jun asks, pressing his lips close to Wei Ying’s ear. “What can I do for my Wei Ying?”

“Can you, ahhh, um, visit Yunmeng Jiang?”

“Hm,” Hanguang-Jun contemplates, as he expertly slides his two fingers, completely wet and coated with omega slick, in and out of Wei Ying’s folds. “An unusual request.”

“Y-Yeah,” Wei Ying gasps, as he lowers his head back onto Hanguang-Jun’s shoulder. The man has his other hand on Wei Ying’s waist, bouncing him gently, rhythmically, as he rocks his fingers inside of him. “I want you to meet my family.”

“The Jiangs?” Hanguang-Jun says, frowning. “I already speak at length with Madam Yu.”

“No, n-not herrr,” Wei Ying whines, suppressing a particularly loud moan as Hanguang-Jun administers an exceptionally deep thrust with his thick digits inside of his cunt. “I-I want you to meet Jiang Cheng and shijie. Well, J-Jiang Cheng most of all… ah!”

“Why do I need to speak with him? He already sounds unpleasant from what I have heard,” Hanguang-Jun responds. “The Lan elders do not speak highly of him.”

“W-Well, he’s young!”

“You are his age, and you already know far better.”

“I t-tried to ruin our betrothal by acting like an i-idiot at our meetings…”

“No,” Hanguang-Jun corrects, sensually biting at Wei Ying’s ear. “Wei Ying purposely seduced me into this betrothal, you little huli jing.”

Wei Ying’s cheeks redden—even more than they already have. “I so did not!”

Hanguang-Jun doesn’t seem to take kindly to this answer. He plunges his fingers right back in.

“AH!”

“So tight,” Hanguang-Jun hums, gently scissoring his two fingers inside of the boy. “Still some ways to go until you’re ready, sweetheart.”

“Haa, haa…” Wei Ying chokes on his own spit. “R-Ready for what…?”

“Mn,” Hanguang-Jun says. He does not care to elaborate. “Alright, I will go.”

“You will, you will, go?” Wei Ying asks, barely able to catch his breath. “You will go, for me, Hanguang-Jun?”

“Yes,” Hanguang-Jun says, leaving soft kisses down his face. “I have been meaning to visit Yunmeng. You tell me such wonderful tales of its beauty, and so I must see for myself.”

Wei Ying’s beyond elated to hear that. “Ah, ahh, I’m so happy…”

“Happy that I am fucking your sloppy cunt with my fingers, or happy that I am going?” Hanguang-Jun asks, with just a hint of smugness.

Whenever Hanguang-Jun speaks to him like that, so vulgarly, so filthy, so unbecoming of a man as revered as the great Hanguang-Jun—such visceral desire, much like shockwaves, sweeps through Wei Ying’s entire body, stirring awake every sensitive part of him.

Slick spurts out of his wet pussy just as Hanguang-Jun heightens his pace, fucking him harder and faster and with much determination to make him cum with just his fingers.

“Ahhh, ahhh,” Wei Ying cries out, rendered completely helpless in Hanguang-Jun’s arms with his two legs spread obscenely apart, giving Hanguang-Jun full and unobstructed access to the entirety of his cunt. The poor boy’s squirting non-stop as he’s brought to the very height of his orgasm, thanks to Hanguang-Jun’s furious work with his fingers, leaking messily everywhere on Hanguang-Jun’s lap, soaking right through the Gusu Lan white of his robes. “I didn’t—I didn’t even know I could—”

“Oh, baobei, you sure can,” Hanguang-Jun demands, rather enjoying the sight of a red-faced Wei Ying looking so shy and embarrassed at how easily he comes apart under Hanguang-Jun’s touches. “You are capable of so many wonderful things. And so much more.”

“W-What more?” Wei Ying gasps, as his two small hands grip tight on Hanguang-Jun’s biceps for support. He’s so strong. So sturdy. So unwavering, so built. “What more?”

“So much more,” Hanguang-Jun promises, as he watches Wei Ying’s eyes roll to the back of his head, his feet curling in indescribable pleasure. “We have so much to look forward to, Wei Ying.”

.

.

.

The Jiangs line up at the front of Lotus Pier to greet Hanguang-Jun, standing in order from the most senior in age, Jiang Fengmian, to the most junior in status, Wei Ying.

Dressed in his favourite red and black disciple attire, Wei Ying cheerily steps forward to receive his husband-to-be as the man steps off the sword he’d used to transport himself here.

Madam Yu would have usually made a fuss, mentioning something about waiting for the most senior of them all to utter his greeting first, but considering everything that Wei Ying has been doing has been working so far in procuring himself a husband—she is content to seal her lips and look the other way.

“Hanguang-Jun!” Wei Ying excitedly greets, raising both his arms up rather expectantly for a hug. “Welcome to Lotus Pier!”

Hanguang-Jun raises a brow, but does not refuse his request. He is happy to lean over and smother Wei Ying into a long overdue embrace, hoisting Wei Ying effortlessly up with his arms and lifting him several inches off the ground, and even swinging him around a little, earning him much delightful squealing and laughter from the boy.

It is what it is: a very showy, very public display of affection.

Jiang Fengmian appears embarrassed to be witnessing such an intimate setting, averting his eyes so as to give the love birds some privacy. Madam Yu keeps her eyes peeled to the front, as if trying to gauge the extent of Hanguang-Jun’s love and devotion. Jiang Cheng is absolutely fuming, practically choking on his resentment. And Jiang Yanli is giggling to herself, delighted to see that Hanguang-Jun is as great a lover as she has been told.

Hanguang-Jun lowers Wei Ying back down onto the ground, only because any longer and he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from, well, doing much more.

The soft smile that he had on for Wei Ying disappears when he lifts his head and meets Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu’s eyes.

“Thank you for inviting me to Lotus Pier,” Hanguang-Jun begins, bowing his head slightly as a show of respect for his soon-to-be in-laws. “It is an honour to be able to visit the place that Wei Ying grew up in. I have heard many great things about the Yunmeng Jiang Sect, and how rich it is with history.”

“Oh, please, do not stand on courtesy with us,” Jiang Fengmian hurries to say, mortified to see Hanguang-Jun bowing to them. “You, of all people, do not need to bow to us.”

“The both of you are still my elders,” Hanguang-Jun insists, standing his ground. “I will still become your son-in-law.”

“A privilege, on its own,” Madam Yu informs him, with a sniff. “It is our fortune to have you become part of the family.”

“Thank you for entrusting Wei Ying to me,” Hanguang-Jun says, glancing over at the aforementioned boy. Wei Ying’s eyes light up when he sees the man’s gaze on him, and he gets on his tiptoes to wave animatedly at Hanguang-Jun. Hanguang-Jun’s heart cannot help but squeeze at the sight. “He is everything to me.”

Jiang Fengmian grows embarrassed again, while there is—such a complicated look on Madam Yu’s face, almost like a look of envy.

For Wei Ying has something that she will never have: true love.

“He is very lucky,” Madam Yu answers, quietly. There is, to Hanguang-Jun’s surprise, no malice in her voice. “And so are you.”

Some people never get a chance like this.

Hanguang-Jun looks back at Wei Ying, and knows she’s right. “I am lucky I ever had a chance at all.”

.

.

.

Wei Ying gives Hanguang-Jun a tour of Yunmeng Jiang Sect himself, starting from the training grounds, to the main hall, the disciples’ dorms, his own personal quarters, and back around to the docks of Lotus Pier where the lake meets the shore. The sect has a complete field day with Hanguang-Jun’s visit; groups of Yunmeng Jiang disciples routinely stop and stare in the middle of their sword practice, only to profusely bow towards the esteemed elder when they are caught gawking open-mouthed at the man. Female disciples are more in the habit of gazing at Hanguang-Jun all starry-eyed, while male disciples can only watch Hanguang-Jun in open worship and admiration. There is not a single person on these grounds who does not wish to be Hanguang-Jun, or be with him.

Much whispering and gossip run amok in the sect.

“That’s Hanguang-Jun!”

“He’s so much more handsome in person!”

“Has anyone ever seen him up-close before this? He’s a rather private person, and hardly turns up to the sect meetings, right?”

“I thought he would look much older!”

“I thought he would look much younger!”

“Psh, he’s an immortal, what do you know? He can be whatever he likes!”

“Do you think he can help Wei Ying cultivate into immortality, too? Wouldn’t that be so grand? Wei Wuxian’s golden core is already so strong, there’s no doubt that he’ll reach Hanguang-Jun’s level in no time!”

“Of course, what do you expect? They’re going to be dual cultivation partners! Wei Wuxian has truly struck the jackpot!”

“He’s just so lucky! I wish I had a Hanguang-Jun!”

Unluckily for them, that fate belongs to Wei Ying in this universe.

Wei Ying is already popular amongst the Yunmeng Jiang disciples on his own, but with Hanguang-Jun by his side, he basically ensures that all eyes are glued on him at all times of the day. Wei Ying is the star of the show, truly coming into his own now that he is able to flourish comfortably in the environment that he grew up in for most of his life: Lotus Pier. He takes Hanguang-Jun’s hand and runs with him down the corridors of his childhood home, explains to him the meaning and purpose behind every single room with gasping breaths, and excitedly introduces Hanguang-Jun to every familiar Yunmeng Jiang disciple that they run into, in high-pitched tones.

As the elder in this situation, Hanguang-Jun has no obligation to indulge Wei Ying in all of his whimsicalities, or his childish enthusiasm. But this is the boy he loves, and so he never lets go of Wei Ying’s hand, he makes sure to hasten his footsteps so he is always keeping pace with him, he takes every introduction with every disciple that they meet seriously and makes a mental note of all of their names.

Wei Ying’s happiness is his happiness.

Wei Ying’s joy is his joy.

He clearly loves Lotus Pier very much, and is very much adored here by its inhabitants, which comes as no surprise to Hanguang-Jun. Wei Ying is very lovable. It is one of the things he enjoys most about him, and yet also one of the things he enjoys the least—because Hanguang-Jun does not share. But still, he is very proud of the boy.

When they reach the docks, the sun in the sky is already beginning to set, and the vendors that had been bustling about the entrance of Lotus Pier selling seed pods, water chestnuts and the like are already packing up their things and concluding business for the day.

Wei Ying hurries to an old grandmother just as she is closing, and asks for the last bag of water chestnuts.

“He will pay!” Wei Ying grins, gesturing to Hanguang-Jun.

Hanguang-Jun retrieves his coin pouch from within his sleeves, and gives her more silver than is needed for the chestnuts.

“What a good boy,” the old grandmother praises, taking hold of his hand. “As handsome as my late husband.”

Wei Ying laughs, and moves to replace her hand with his, just so he can drag Hanguang-Jun away to find a secluded spot by the lotus lake and finally have some time with him alone without any prying eyes. The evening weather is perfect, too—chilly and refreshing, with petals and leaves swaying along with the blowing breeze.

They take their seats on the docks, side by side, shoulder to shoulder. Wei Ying quickly removes his shoes and dips the ends of his toes into the waters, encouraging Hanguang-Jun to do the same.

He thinks that Hanguang-Jun will not do it, only because he’s sure one of the three thousand Gusu Lan rules forbid such improper conduct and attire in the public eye, but Hanguang-Jun rather wordlessly removes his own shoes and places it by the side. And then he lowers his feet into the waters as well, containing his shiver as he feels the coldness seep into his bare skin.

Wei Ying laughs when he sees the mild discomfort on Hanguang-Jun’s face. He playfully kicks into the waters, splashing water droplets everywhere and sending it raining down onto them.

Hanguang-Jun merely smiles, and does not say a thing.

“Here, have one,” Wei Ying says, offering Hanguang-Jun a water chestnut that he has just peeled from the bag that they bought earlier. “I know Caiyi Town sells these too, but Lotus Pier’s ones are the best!”

Hanguang-Jun is not a fan of water chestnuts, but he chooses not to mention it. Wei Ying peeled this with his bare hands just for him, after all.

He pops it into his mouth, and decides that it’s one of the best things he has ever tasted.

“It is, indeed, better,” Hanguang-Jun murmurs, as he admires Wei Ying’s smiling countenance.

“Told you so,” Wei Ying laughs, swinging his legs up high. He peels another chestnut for himself, and chews it in one go. There’s a forlorn look to his eyes as he gazes out onto the waters. “Ah, I will miss Lotus Pier for sure.”

Hanguang-Jun hesitates. “I am well-aware of the sacrifices Wei Ying will be making.”

Wei Ying bites down on his lip. “I understand it is simply part of the process.”

“Cloud Recesses will not be able to compare,” Hanguang-Jun admits. “But I will make sure it becomes your home as much as it has become mine. In time to come, you will grow acquainted with the juniors yourself. Shufu will love you. And everything will become second-nature to you, like you were always meant to be there.”

Wei Ying’s smile tightens, but he teases anyway, “You missed out on the most important thing!”

“What is it?”

“Cloud Recesses has you,” Wei Ying playfully says, jabbing him in the shoulder. “What is the point of staying here in Lotus Pier if I don’t have my Hanguang-Jun?”

Hanguang-Jun’s smile widens. “Wei Ying.” Oh, the boy makes his heart flutter so.

“What would you do without me,” Wei Ying jokes, popping another chestnut into his mouth for chewing. Then, as if struck by a sudden worry, he anxiously turns his head and asks, “Hey… I’m not too childish for you, am I?”

Hanguang-Jun stills. “Why would you assume such a thing?”

“I don’t know,” Wei Ying says, with such a dramatic drop in his mood as compared to earlier. “I still don’t know why you chose me. I mean, I’m much younger, and if Jiang Cheng is to be trusted, maybe even annoying. Too much. I feel that way sometimes, when I prattle on and you don’t stop me. Like I’m doing right now! See what I mean?”

Hanguang-Jun frowns, and then consciously reaches to take Wei Ying’s hand into his, pressing his lips to his knuckles—his favourite move. “Wei Ying, I chose you precisely because of you. I adore everything about you. Your energy, your vigour, your… youthfulness, if you would like to call it that. In fact, it adds colour into my life. Although I will have you know that age does not matter. Even if you were much older, there is no doubt that I would have still chosen you.”

Wei Ying’s glum look completely dissolves into a bright megawatt smile. He evidently likes it; likes being praised and complimented and cajoled with honeyed words by the older man. He cocks his head to the side and asks in a sweet-sounding voice, “Hanguang-Jun, you really mean that? You really like me that much?”

“Mn.”

“Even if I didn’t look so pretty? Even if I was balding and had a big belly?”

Hanguang-Jun’s forehead creases. “Hm. Maybe not.”

Wei Ying looks disappointed. “Oh, so the great Hanguang-Jun is still a man of superficial tastes, after all.”

“I do not claim to be perfect,” Hanguang-Jun muses. “I still like pretty things.”

“Hmph!” Wei Ying huffs, crossing his arms. “Then it’s not true love to me.”

“No?”

“No.”

“I see,” Hanguang-Jun says. “Then, may I ask, if I were to look old and balding, would Wei Ying still wish to marry me?”

Wei Ying parts his lips to immediately answer, only to catch himself mid-air and purse his lips shut again. “Like I would have a choice,” he mutters, grumpily.

“But if you did?”

“Probably not,” Wei Ying sulks.

“Hm,” Hanguang-Jun gives a wry smile. “Then, I suppose Wei Ying’s love is not true for me.”

“That’s not fair! I let you do anything you want to me,” Wei Ying furiously points out. “I do it because I… I…”

Oh, he’s gotten himself in a fix.

“Because you?” Hanguang-Jun’s smile only grows wider, knowing exactly his predicament. “Will Wei Ying finally say it today, that he loves me?”

“Hmph!”

Hanguang-Jun lets out a low chuckle, and then captures Wei Ying into his arms.

“How so very difficult,” Hanguang-Jun murmurs, kissing him gently. “My bride-to-be is so shy.”

Wei Ying’s face becomes crimson. “I am so not!”

“There is no need to be shy,” Hanguang-Jun hums. “We have done too many things together, for Wei Ying to still be shy.”

“I… I…” Wei Ying chokes, hiding his face into Hanguang-Jun’s broad shoulders. “You’re so mean!”

“Mn. I am very ‘mean’,” Hanguang-Jun humours him, kissing down his neck. Wei Ying smells divine, as usual. Then, he grows serious. “Even if it will take you a thousand years to return my love, I have the time. I can wait.”

“Hm?” Wei Ying questions, in a daze. “Hanguang-Jun?”

“Wei Ying is worth the wait,” Hanguang-Jun murmurs softly, with fondness on his face. “Wei Ying is my everything.”

.

.

.

Dinner with the Jiangs goes as smoothly as Wei Ying could have hoped for. Jiang-shushu, Madam Yu and Jiang Yanli like Hanguang-Jun very much, and ply him with questions one after another. The conversation is never dull or uninteresting; Hanguang-Jun, for all of his normally so terse, so curt answers, is very willing to field any question that comes his way, no matter how invasive they may be. Anything to gain his in-laws’ trust and secure Wei Ying’s hand in marriage, of course. Hanguang-Jun will do everything in his power to ensure this betrothal goes well.

He does not forget about Wei Ying, too, during the meal. In between all of the questions, Hanguang-Jun makes sure to drop plenty of food into Wei Ying’s rice bowl, picking up all of the best bits of meat and vegetables for Wei Ying and Wei Ying only. He does it so much that Wei Ying has no need to reach for food on the communal plates at all. Wei Ying happily gobbles down everything that he serves him, beaming at the older man with his eyes crinkling up into slits. Coming from a household where it is frowned upon to bestow Wei Ying the limelight of any sort, ever, being with Hanguang-Jun is a breath of fresh air.

Hanguang-Jun makes him feel as if he’s the main character in this universe. That it’s alright to want attention, to want to be adored and loved.

Wei Ying can already feel Jiang Cheng’s eyes boring into his back, heavily sulking at the lovey-dovey sight of both him and Hanguang-Jun. He wonders if the boy is still upset about him leaving Lotus Pier.

He decides this will not do, and comes up with a plan.

“Might I suggest something?” Wei Ying squeaks out, when there is a rare lull in the conversation. “I heard Hanguang-Jun is a good archer! Well, here at Yunmeng Jiang, we pride ourselves on our archery too. But perhaps not at Hanguang-Jun’s level. Anyway, I’m sure Hanguang-Jun has plenty of things to teach us! He should lead tomorrow’s archery session. With Jiang Cheng.”

“Oh, a guest lecture by Hanguang-Jun? That would be an honour,” Jiang Fengmian says, chuckling. “A great idea, A-Ying. Although, if it is too much to ask of Hanguang-Jun, who I am sure came here hoping for a relaxed visit…”

Hanguang-Jun’s smile is agreeable, pleasant; albeit slightly confused as to the sudden suggestion. “I am up to the task, since Wei Ying wishes for such a thing.”

“Then it’s settled!”

“Hey, do I even get a say?” Jiang Cheng mutters, under his breath. His face—scrunched up hotly in nothing but pure annoyance. “I thought it was my session.”

“And I think you should lead it with Hanguang-Jun!” Wei Ying insists, eagerly nodding his head. “Get to know your brother-in-law for a bit!”

“Like I need to do any of that!”

“Jiang Wanyin! Don’t be rude,” Madam Yu snaps, glaring down at her child. She turns back to Hanguang-Jun, and gently implores him, “Do not mind him. He is still young, and does not know any better.”

“Of course,” Hanguang-Jun merely says, golden eyes flicking over to meet angry, purple ones. “I am sure Yunmeng Jiang will be in good hands.”

He is deliberately vague. Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu are not sure what to make of it, uncertain if it is intended to be complimentary or an insult. But Wei Ying knows Hanguang-Jun better than most, and can hear his dislike for Jiang Cheng so clearly spelled out—disguised under pretty-sounding words.

Wei Ying sighs. He is just hoping that tomorrow’s session will go well, and that Jiang Cheng and Hanguang-Jun may hopefully, eventually, find common ground.

.

.

.

After dinner, Wei Ying walks Hanguang-Jun back to his guest quarters, stationed at the other end of the property. They are merely betrothed; it would not be proper for them to share a room. Wei Ying is expected to still spend the night in his own quarters, apart from his intended.

They halt right outside the door of Hanguang-Jun’s room, standing in the midst of a long, dark corridor with no one else in sight. The guest courtyard is exceptionally quiet, considering Hanguang-Jun is their only visitor during this time of the year and all the servants and disciples are housed far from this part of Yunmeng Jiang grounds. It is also well past bedtime, and so not many people are left scurrying about, all having retired to their rooms after an exciting day with such an esteemed guest loitering about their grounds.

Wei Ying hems and haws with his two hands pulled behind his back, as if he’s not so sure what to do now. He doesn’t want to leave so soon, but he knows it is not right to stay either. Hanguang-Jun, too, pauses for a solid moment as he casts his gaze over Wei Ying, unwilling to part from the boy so early into the night.

And so the taller man tips his head over and tilts it to the side, his mouth puckering for a kiss.

He claims Wei Ying’s lips as his, and kisses him in the gentlest fashion possible, being so soft and careful with the boy that it sends Wei Ying trembling all over in his hold.

Wei Ying gets on his tiptoes right as he melts into the kiss, dark lashes fluttering to a close as he feels Hanguang-Jun cover the back of his head with that large hand of his. He loves kissing Hanguang-Jun in any manner possible, on his lap, in his embrace; but there is just something about kissing Hanguang-Jun when they are standing right before each other, and Wei Ying has to incline his head back that much just to be able to reach Hanguang-Jun’s mouth with his height.

He is so much smaller, so petite and so much more compact-sized. Hanguang-Jun has to help him out, support him with his arms, bend over that much just so they can join together in a kiss.

Their stark difference in size leaves Wei Ying feeling so vulnerable. So helpless, powerless, like he can do nothing in the face of Hanguang-Jun always.

They draw apart from their kiss mildly panting, with a long silvery trail of saliva connecting their mouths still, as if unwilling to let them part. It’s all very erotic, especially with the way Wei Ying gazes back up at him with half-lidded eyes and bruised red lips, looking as though a single kiss is already enough to make him come undone.

It has Hanguang-Jun leaning back down to steal a kiss again, and again, and again, in the darkness of the night—carefully concealing their sin in the shadows of the moonlight, etched high up in the sky.

“You are so beautiful,” Hanguang-Jun groans softly, right against Wei Ying’s mouth. “You are so… oh.”

Wei Ying doesn’t want to go at all. Hoping the dark conceals the redness of his face, he brazenly suggests, “Maybe I should come in.”

“Maybe you should,” Hanguang-Jun says, readily agreeing.

At most, Wei Ying will return to his quarters late by half a shichen or two. No one should notice. And if they do, then they’re a busybody, and Wei Ying will simply find a way to deal with them later.

They enter Hanguang-Jun’s guest room, a large, spacious room that has been reserved for the most honourable of guests. It’s been made up in an overly exorbitant fashion and far too lavish for Hanguang-Jun’s tastes, but he understands that the Jiangs wish to make a good first impression, and does not begrudge them for it.

He eases the door close behind them, locking it, even, just so no one will intrude on their privacy.

Wei Ying suddenly grows so—unexplainably nervous. It is only occurring to him now that he has never been left in a bedroom alone with Hanguang-Jun before, where there is so obviously a bed that marital couples typically share with each other.

Hanguang-Jun lights several candles placed around the room, on the windowsill, on the table, by the bed, and then directs Wei Ying to have a seat on the cushions in the middle of the room.

Wei Ying nervously moves to take his seat, but just as he plops his butt down onto the floor, he feels two big hands cupping his waist again, lifting him up effortlessly and seating him right down against the best cushion there is—Hanguang-Jun’s lap.

He yelps, just as he sinks right down against Hanguang-Jun’s sturdy chest.

Hanguang-Jun chuckles when he sees this, and lowers his lips right next to Wei Ying’s flushed red ears.

“Why are you so nervous,” Hanguang-Jun says, tenderly tucking a strand of hair behind the boy’s ear. “We do this all the time.”

“I know,” Wei Ying whines, burying his head into the front of his robes. “But not on Yunmeng Jiang grounds!”

“Mm, yes,” Hanguang-Jun says. “We have yet to fuck here.”

Wei Ying’s eyes widen. The audacity! “Hanguang-Jun!”

“I jest,” Hanguang-Jun says, even if his smile isn’t really that convincing. “But I will have to say, Wei Ying has been very unbearable, wearing his Yunmeng Jiang robes all day. Wei Ying looks just so, ah, cute.”

Wei Ying pouts. “Without the make-up, and all of that fuss?”

“Mn,” Hanguang-Jun nods. “Wei Ying looks beautiful, all fresh-faced.”

“I thought you liked me all dolled up?” Wei Ying asks, apprehensively.

“Hm,” Hanguang-Jun frowns. “I fear you have misunderstood me. I enjoy Wei Ying dolling up for me, but it is not a must. I adore Wei Ying in all forms.”

“Oh,” Wei Ying registers, happy. “I thought, I thought perhaps you liked me in a specific way. I’m sure Madam Yu thinks so, too, because she’s always making me dress up for you…”

“I do not mind the dressing up,” Hanguang-Jun states. “I know it will be a luxury in time to come, because Wei Ying will not have the time to do so once he becomes heavy with my child.”

Wei Ying squeezes his thighs together at the very mention. “I… I see.”

“Yes,” Hanguang-Jun says. “By then, Wei Ying will be dressed in Gusu Lan robes all day, and will perhaps have a natural glow to his face, as all expectant mothers do. You will look beautiful then, too.”

Wei Ying just feels so embarrassed! “H-Hanguang-Jun, it seems you’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“I have.”

Trust the man to say that with a straight face! “Like… too much.”

“Too much?” Hanguang-Jun repeats, knitting his brows. “Am I too much for Wei Ying?”

“No! But—” Wei Ying sulks, throwing a tantrum. “Is that all you think about? Me becoming heavy with your child?”

“Yes,” Hanguang-Jun says, unapologetically. “And no.”

“No?”

“I think about the process of making Wei Ying become heavy with child, too.”

“Hanguang-Jun!”

“I think about Wei Ying a lot,” Hanguang-Jun continues, pressing soft kisses to Wei Ying’s shoulder. “I think about the many ways I can make Wei Ying happy, I think about how much brighter my life is with Wei Ying in it, now.”

Wei Ying grins, wriggling his butt happily against Hanguang-Jun’s lap. “You’re such a flirt. Have I ever told you how much of a flirt you are? Hanguang-Jun, you must have been a real ladykiller in your younger days, mustn’t you? I’m sure you had much practice.”

“No.”

“...No?”

“I am like this only for you,” Hanguang-Jun claims with such a pensive look on his face, leaning his chin atop Wei Ying’s shoulder. “Why do you refuse to believe me on such things, after all this time?”

“Maybe because you’re too perfect!” Wei Ying points out. “And you—you treat me so well! Nobody does that without ill-intentions.”

“You are right,” Hanguang-Jun says. “I harbour plenty of ill-intentions towards Wei Ying.”

Already, his hand is slipping down in between Wei Ying’s thighs.

This is when the night really begins for the both of them.

Wei Ying immediately gets up from where he’s sitting and turns so that he is pressed chest-to-chest with Hanguang-Jun, so that he can finally meet his eyes.

His arms encircle around Hanguang-Jun, hanging from his neck loosely. In this position, Hanguang-Jun has to tilt his head back a little bit, just so he can witness Wei Ying in all of his glory: high ponytail swinging cutely from the top of his head, thighs straddling Hanguang-Jun’s hips, clad in red and black disciple robes that are even easier to rip apart than usual.

Wei Ying leans over to where Hanguang-Jun’s mouth is, and with such a confident look on his face, suddenly whispers against his lips, “Maybe I am not so innocent too, you know.”

The night falls, and the huli jing starts to come out.

Hanguang-Jun quietly groans, like that’s exactly what he needs to hear after a long day of Wei Ying’s titillating presence.

Cupping Hanguang-Jun’s face with his two small hands, Wei Ying draws the older man in for a sweet kiss. This time, their kissing is less gentle as it had been under the moonlight and much more—sensual and urgent, skin pressed against skin, breaths aired against breaths. The overpowering stench of alpha arousal, mixed with omega arousal, fills the air, leading the entire room to smell like sex. Their hands can’t get enough of each other, roaming needily around each other's bodies, casually groping and fondling and touching everywhere that might bring them pleasure.

Wei Ying feels something so hard and stiff poking at his cunt from underneath Hanguang-Jun’s robes—and knows he has got Hanguang-Jun right where he wants him.

Their robes don’t come off. No, they still insist on clinging on to their last semblance of sanity, of adherence to rules and tradition, to morality and what is upright and honest. Hanguang-Jun has been so intentionally saving their first times for each other for their wedding night, and Wei Ying does not want to jeopardise that noble mission of his, no matter how easy he knows it would be to do such a thing.

Instead, Wei Ying settles for humping Hanguang-Jun’s clothed cock instead, feeling the delicious friction of it all rubbing right against his wet pussy. Desperate to feel much more of the man, Wei Ying loosens the red ribbon around his waist and hikes the rest of his robes up his hips, just so he can position his very damp underwear right above Hanguang-Jun’s erection.

It curves up proud and tall, straining tightly against the white cotton fabric, forming such a big, handsome lump at the front of Hanguang-Jun’s robes. Any more, and Wei Ying is certain the threads will burst apart.

Hanguang-Jun continues to groan quietly under his breath as Wei Ying rides him—expertly, like he has trained for this all his life. And yet, Hanguang-Jun knows Wei Ying has only learned to do this just weeks before, when he’d at the start been still so shy and whimpered at every little touch Hanguang-Jun left on his skin. But Wei Ying is so clever, and he’s so smart, and today he’s already clearly mastered the art of rolling his hips to every thrust, every single time Hanguang-Jun lifts his own self to drive at Wei Ying’s dripping cunt.

“So… so good,” Wei Ying sobs, as he holds onto Hanguang-Jun’s shoulders for support, his nails digging in so tightly. “Can’t wait… oh… Can’t wait for you to fuck me…”

Every part of Hanguang-Jun feels like it’s been set on fire. Since when did the boy learn to talk so dirtily? He urgently grabs at Wei Ying’s face, his large hands enclosing around Wei Ying’s small jaw, and kisses him, wanting to drown every single one of his senses with Wei Ying and Wei Ying only.

“I dream of it every night,” Hanguang-Jun murmurs to him, in between the kisses. “Fucking you.”

“H-Hanguang-Jun…!”

“Dream of spreading your two legs,” Hanguang-Jun moans, as one hand drifts down to grasp hungrily for Wei Ying’s waist. “Dream of spearing my big cock into your tiny body.”

Wei Ying is so close. “Please… Please don’t say these things…!” It’s embarrassing.

“How do you still not believe that you are made for me,” Hanguang-Jun whispers, lips descending down onto his neck. He extends his sharp teeth and bites, leaving indents of his teeth and red bruises everywhere. “My Wei Ying.”

Wei Ying cums with a high-pitched, shrilly cry, his two thighs convulsing maniacally as wetness spurts out of him, soaking through his underwear.

Hanguang-Jun follows soon after, desperately clenching down onto Wei Ying’s waist to hold the boy in place as he rides through the wave of his orgasm.

When he’s done, he slumps his head against Wei Ying’s flat belly, panting heavily. Wei Ying, who’s equally dazed himself, pats absentmindedly at Hanguang-Jun’s head, as his own eyelids grow heavier and heavier. He stifles a yawn as he flops down on Hanguang-Jun’s lap, all fucked out and ready for slumber.

“Just let me close my eyes for a bit…” Wei Ying sighs.

By the time Hanguang-Jun manages to catch his breath, he raises his head back up, and sees that Wei Ying has fallen asleep straddling him.

How is it possible that Wei Ying can sleep sitting up? The boy is truly capable of anything.

Hanguang-Jun brings him into his arms, before laying him back down against the many cushions on the floor. Then, he gets up and heads straight for the adjacent bathroom, where he’ll draw a bath and wash the both of them up, before tucking Wei Ying lovingly into bed.

.

.

.

Wei Ying wakes up alone in a bed that’s far too large for him, clothed in oversized Gusu Lan white robes that hang off of him. He yawns and rubs at his eyes, and when he finally has the energy to open them he realises that he is, in fact, not back in his own quarters, and rather, had stayed the night at Hanguang-Jun’s place.

It is scandalous. It is not right. But who’s going to tell on him? They are going to be wed in a few months’ time anyway, this is not the worst thing to happen to two people who are already engaged. He knows the other disciples won’t check on him, for Wei Ying outranks all of them. And so, the only person that he could think of that would be nosy enough to pay him a visit this early in the morning, is Jiang Cheng—but if Hanguang-Jun’s handwritten note that he left by the bedside is to be trusted, then Jiang Cheng should have his hands full with Wei Ying’s betrothed this fine morning.

Out to archery with your brother. Left you your breakfast by the table. Will miss you until I return.

Hanguang-Jun

It’s just a simple note, but it’s enough to turn Wei Ying all giddy and shy. There’s a bowl of chicken congee on the table like he said, still piping hot, and so it means Hanguang-Jun mustn’t have left for very long.

Wei Ying pulls himself out of bed, and to his surprise, feels his thighs absent of any evidence of slick. Hanguang-Jun must have bathed him clean last night before bringing him to bed, and for some reason the mental image of the great and venerable Hanguang-Jun, doing something as sweet and domestic as scrubbing him clean and washing his hair for him, has Wei Ying’s heart doing a little skip.

He loves me so much, Wei Ying thinks, triumphantly to himself. Hanguang-Jun loves me this much.

As he hops out of bed, though, his tiny feet almost trip over a bag that Hanguang-Jun had left right underneath, and Wei Ying has to steady himself before he falls head first onto the table before him.

However—now that he has discovered that Hanguang-Jun has a bag, sitting there and practically begging to be opened and ransacked, Wei Ying finds his interest being drawn towards it instead, wondering if it would be so bad to look through the belongings of his future husband.

I mean, what could the great Hanguang-Jun bring with him to Lotus Pier? Is he a light packer, or does he take everything that he could possibly need with him right from the doorstep of Cloud Recesses?

It’s not as if Wei Ying’s doing anything illegal! If they are to be married, then Hanguang-Jun’s things will rightfully become Wei Ying’s, and vice-versa. There should be no secrets between them! And besides, Wei Ying’s merely curious, it is not as if he harbours any cruel intentions whatsoever.

Snickering quietly to himself, Wei Ying lowers his knees to the ground and hurriedly reaches for Hanguang-Jun’s bag, pulling it open and treating himself to such a marvellous array of things.

There are several qiankun pouches, concealing high-grade weapons and talismans that are to be used in battle, and has Wei Ying’s eyes glimmering wide in wonder as he examines each and every one of Hanguang-Jun’s prized armour. Of course Hanguang-Jun would have the best weaponry there is! Normally, he uses Bichen, but of course he has back-up just in case he’s dealing with something that requires attention of a different nature. Wei Ying spends a good while admiring all of them before moving onto the rest of the pouches.

There is a pouch that stores an excessive amount of Gusu Lan white robes, something that has Wei Ying snorting and giggling to himself, because no man should need that many robes! But if you think about the amount of night hunts that Hanguang-Jun goes on, and his lack of time to do laundry of any sort in between, it sort of makes sense. Hm. Wei Ying decides there is some merit to it, and promptly loses interest in his wardrobe.

(Besides, Wei Ying is currently clothed in one of Hanguang-Jun’s white robes himself. Perhaps there really is some benefit to over packing, and carrying around enough robes that can last him for a month!)

Wei Ying continues to sift through pouch after pouch, gradually finding that there really is… nothing to be found that is unexpected with Hanguang-Jun.

That is, until he stumbles upon one pouch that sits taut and pretty in the corner, looking very much different from the rest.

This one is not made out of the same Gusu Lan silk or dressed in the cloud Gusu Lan sigil, no. This one is made of an inferior cotton, looking very much like something you could purchase from the market, and is dressed up in the sweetest shade of pink—much like the sort of pouch a fair maiden would use for herself.

Immediately, Wei Ying’s heart begins to pound.

Much like a fair maiden would use for herself… He thinks again, as he hesitantly reaches for the pouch.

Does Hanguang-Jun, by any chance, keep something that a fair maiden had given to him, perhaps… as something to remember her by?

Oh. Oh. Wei Ying’s mind is instantly assaulted by an endless amount of heartbreaking possibilities. His young, fragile heart cannot possibly take this. He draws the pouch open worriedly, finds that it is just a normal pouch and not one with magical abilities, and feels his heart sinking further and further with every new discovery he finds, rummaging through it.

—A dried peony flower.

—A carefully kept artwork of a much younger Hanguang-Jun, most likely sketched during his teenage years.

—A small, portable pint of Emperor’s Smile.

—A long ribbon that has seemingly faded in colour from years of storage. Right now, it bears the shade of coral pink.

—A journal, with no words at all written down onto its pages. Only important dates that Wei Ying cannot decipher, or make meaning of.

Wei Ying feels utterly weighed down by dread, as the reality of what this pouch really means slowly begins to dawn unto him.

Hanguang-Jun is in love with somebody else.

And it is not him.

These are not his things. Wei Ying has never given Hanguang-Jun a peony flower, sketched him on any occasion, ever drank a single drop of Emperor’s Smile, or even gifted him a ribbon.

These are not his things. These are hers. Whoever she is… Perhaps a dead lover that Hanguang-Jun is mourning. Perhaps a low-class peasant that Hanguang-Jun is not allowed to be with. Whoever she is—she is not him.

Wei Ying feels such a deadly twist in his gut. Yes, Hanguang-Jun is not obligated to inform Wei Ying of his past. Hanguang-Jun is older, wiser, and has lived far more years than Wei Ying has. It is not out of the question for Hanguang-Jun to have loved and lost in this lifetime, before Wei Ying could even comprehend what love was.

But did he have to insist on dressing up his declarations of love to Wei Ying always? He’d misled Wei Ying into believing that Wei Ying was truly his one and his only, his very first. Whenever Wei Ying broached the subject, Hanguang-Jun never mentioned anyone else. Only Wei Ying. He’d only had eyes for Wei Ying.

This—this has to be a betrayal of trust, hasn’t it? Wei Ying feels like such a fool. Why would he ever assume he was the only one in Hanguang-Jun’s life?

Wei Ying is only one out of the many coveting the man. And Hanguang-Jun—oh, Hanguang-Jun has always had so many options. So many maidens, ones that probably look far more beautiful than Wei Ying could ever be.

Wei Ying does not realise he is crying until he looks down and sees a warm puddle of tears on the floor, and realises with a startling jolt that he has been trembling non-stop for the past ten minutes. It feels as though he has been living in nothing but a dream, a fantasy of his own make-believe, the past few weeks. And right now, all of reality is crashing right down onto him—that he is not as special as Hanguang-Jun says he is, that he is not the only one Hanguang-Jun ever had eyes for, that he is not the person Hanguang-Jun loves so much to the point where he keeps a pouch of all of his things.

Perhaps Wei Ying is acting like a child, crying over matters out of his control like this. It’s selfish and delusional to want Hanguang-Jun’s love all to himself, like a child that cannot handle sharing toys with anybody. But in many ways, Wei Ying still feels so small. He is so young, he is so new to this, and he does not know how to cope with complex emotions that are larger than himself.

If Hanguang-Jun is in love with another, then what is Wei Ying to him?

Just some pretty plaything that he can use and fuck on his whim?

Wei Ying would rather die than play second-fiddle to someone else like this.

His ears are ringing, but he cannot hear a thing. Hours must have passed before he hazily registers a vague, rustling sound in the distance, of doors being pulled open and of hurried footsteps dashing in.

He lifts his head, completely bleary with tears, when he hears the worried shout of his name.

“Wei Ying!”

Hanguang-Jun’s face hazily comes back into focus, his beautiful golden eyes pulled wide open in fear and panic as he anxiously grasps hold of Wei Ying’s shoulders.

“Wei Ying, my love, can you hear me?”

Wei Ying’s eyes are, once again, stinging with pain. He knows nothing, except—

He spits out in a choking whisper, “Who is she?”

“What?”

“Who is she?” Wei Ying cries out, louder this time, drawing his words out into such a distressed wail. He punches and batters away at Hanguang-Jun’s chest, determined to find out the answer, even if he remains a snotty mess. “Who is she?! Who do you love?! Why would you hide this from me?!”

Hanguang-Jun turns to glance at his most prized possessions laid out onto the ground, for all of the world to see, and knows right away that he has been found out.

He exhales shakily, alarmed by such a thing, “You… You found it.”

“Yes, I found it!” Wei Ying snarls, in a fit of explosive anger and—never-ending tears. “I found your secrets! I found out everything you’ve been hiding! Hanguang-Jun, tell me, who is she?!”

Hanguang-Jun’s face burns with shame. Faced with such a pointed question, it seems he cannot even bring himself to meet Wei Ying’s eyes. “Wei Ying, I…”

There is no answer. He is reluctant to answer. Nothing else leaves his lips, hiding the rest of his humiliation from the world.

Wei Ying stares back at him, completely mortified. His throat tightens as he speaks, followed by a short intake of breath, “You don’t… You don’t even wish to tell me?”

Nothing but silence.

Hanguang-Jun refuses to give a response, his entire self steeped in guilt.

“You love her that much…?” A great sob escapes Wei Ying, as he covers his face with shaking hands.

Gut-wrenching sobs tears through his chest, as he’s forced to confront the sins of his betrothed.

Forced to confront the fact that the one that Hanguang-Jun loves so much—is not him.

Such a sight, it threatens to rip Hanguang-Jun apart.

“Wei Ying—” Hanguang-Jun murmurs, stepping forward.

Wei Ying takes an instinctive step backward, yelling out, “Don’t touch me!”

“Wei Ying, it is not what you think,” Hanguang-Jun begs, hoping he will hear him out. “Wei Ying, I cannot… I cannot tell you the truth.”

The boy’s chin trembles. “Hanguang-Jun, things have reached this point, and you still—you still wish to hide the truth from me?”

“Wei Ying, please—”

“Is she dead or alive?” Wei Ying demands to know.

Hanguang-Jun’s mouth goes dry. Once again, he does not answer the question head-on. Instead, he pleadingly says, “If I tell you, you must promise me that you will not run.”

“Run?” Wei Ying questions, mumbling incoherently under his breath. “Why would I run?”

“That you will not leave me,” Hanguang-Jun begs, a single drop of tear welling up in the corner of his eye. He is so frightened, he is on the verge of tears. “That you will not find me disgusting, or objectionable, or repulsive. That you—you still remember I am your Hanguang-Jun, the one you have always loved.”

“I cannot love a man I do not know,” Wei Ying snaps, bitterly.

“Then, I will tell you the truth,” Hanguang-Jun whispers, with such deep pain in his eyes. “I was hoping… I was hoping you would not find out until after the wedding…”

“Hanguang-Jun, tell me.”

Hanguang-Jun’s voice is soft, when he finally confesses. “It is you.”

Wei Ying does not believe it the first time. “What?”

“The gifts in the pouch,” Hanguang-Jun whispers, brokenly. “Are from you.”

Wei Ying’s heart lurches, in great disappointment. “Hanguang-Jun, you are insane. I ask for the truth, and still, you attempt to lie to my face…!”

“They are from you, from another world,” Hanguang-Jun explains, casting such a sorrowful look into Wei Ying’s direction. “A world in which I loved, and I lost you. A world in which you no longer exist.”

Wei Ying's stomach clenches, going utterly sick with fear. He looks back at the possessions on the ground, and does not recognise any of them. “I don’t understand.”

“I am not from this world,” Hanguang-Jun murmurs, taking a hopeful step towards the boy. “I came here looking for you.”

Suddenly, Wei Ying is reminded of the dates that he saw in the journal. “All of those dates…”

“I found a forbidden array that allowed me to traverse realms,” Hanguang-Jun says. “But not every universe contained you. This… this was the first one in which I could find you. That was when I could finally put down the journal.”

“And when did you find me?” Wei Ying asks, even if he thinks he already knows the answer.

“Would you believe me if I told you that I saw you on the streets once, fell deeply in love with you, and wanted an excuse to see you again and make you mine?”

Wei Ying hadn’t, then.

He does, now.

“On the streets of Lotus Pier, running around with Jiang Wanyin,” Hanguang-Jun breathes. “That was when I realised that my years of torment could finally come to an end.”

Wei Ying’s heart hammers away in his chest as he fills in the blanks. “So, that’s why you made it known to everyone else that you were looking to get married. You knew Madam Yu would jump at the chance.”

“It was a gamble that I took,” Hanguang-Jun says, smiling weakly to him. “That ultimately paid off.”

Wei Ying doesn’t know what to think. He still can’t comprehend that everything that Hanguang-Jun is telling him—is real. “How do I know that you aren’t lying? That you aren’t fabricating all of this just to appease me? There’s no such thing as crossing realms, or time-travelling. Those are forbidden techniques, and can result in disastrous backlash in the spellcaster.”

“Wei Ying,” Hanguang-Jun releases a low sigh. “Look at me.”

Wei Ying looks at him. The man’s eyes are bloodshot and red-rimmed, and completely seized with fear. The sunkenness and gauntness of his face are telling of the many years of anguish and suffering that he has endured just to get here; the diminished light in his eyes indicative of his dread and anxiety that Wei Ying will leave him again, that he will lose Wei Ying against his will once more.

How had he never seen how tired, how exhausted Hanguang-Jun looked before?

Beyond that handsome countenance, Hanguang-Jun is a walking, unstable, jittery wreck of a mess.

He is barely keeping it together—he has only done so by far on the guise of a pretense.

“I am not lying to you,” Hanguang-Jun says again. “I love you. I have searched for you in every realm. It is only by a stroke of luck that I found you again here. And I cannot bear to lose you again, do you understand?”

And if Wei Ying is to believe him, then what does this mean for them?

“Does anyone else know?” Wei Ying whispers, his voice edged with fear.

“No,” Hanguang-Jun says, shaking his head sadly. “Shufu suspects, but he loves me too much to confirm it. I am his perfect nephew.”

“What about your brother?”

“He has been in seclusion for too long,” Hanguang-Jun explains. “His grief drowns out everything else. He does not see me for who I really am.”

“The juniors, they all look up to you,” Wei Ying points out, remembering Lan Jingyi.

“It was not that much different in the world I come from. I was also Hanguang-Jun there, and travelled far and wide on night hunts.”

“But you were not Hanguang-Jun to me,” Wei Ying asks, numbly.

Hanguang-Jun’s gaze softens. “No,” he says. “To you, I was Lan Zhan.”

Lan Zhan?

“Lan… Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying rushes to call, feeling his scalp prickle with such an intense familiarity for the other man.

Hanguang-Jun raises his eyes back up, and looks as though he might burst into tears.

“Wei Ying?”

It’s the first time his name has been called like that, in so long.

Even if they are meant to be worlds apart, Wei Ying’s soul—it recognises Hanguang-Jun. It calls to him like he is a long lost love; it yearns for him with such magnetic attraction, like it was always made for him.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying calls again, this time with much more certainty, and conviction that the man… is who he says he is. “Lan Zhan.”

Exactly like the voice that still haunts Hanguang-Jun’s dreams, every night.

“Lan Zhaaan!”

“Wei Ying,” Hanguang-Jun answers, chewing on his lower lip. The salt of his soul, bleeding and pouring from the ducts of his eyes. “I finally found you, after an eternity of loneliness.”

And to see the great Hanguang-Jun, the love of his life, in such pain—how could Wei Ying ever bear the sight?

When Hanguang-Jun steps forward once more, Wei Ying does not take a step back, or shy away.

Instead, he leans right in, and allows the man to capture him into his arms.

You have suffered too much, Lan Zhan.

“I believe you,” Wei Ying murmurs comfortingly, his shoulders dropping with such ease. It feels as though the tears, the lacerations in his soul, that he hadn’t even realised were there before—are slowly weaving back into place and healing of their own accord, filling all of the missing gaps and the spaces in which Hanguang-Jun was always meant to occupy.

Was I always this broken, and was I destined to never know?

“I finally found you,” Hanguang-Jun whimpers again, hot torrents of grief coursing down his face now that Wei Ying cannot see him cry. “I finally found you again, after so long, Wei Ying. In this life, we will finally be married, and live out the life we deserved, back then.”

Wei Ying wants so badly to part his lips and ask, did I suffer?

But he already knows the answer.

And so, he indulges another one of his curiosities instead, “Did he know?”

Hanguang-Jun quietly asks back, “What?”

“Did he know that you loved him so?”

Wei Ying feels more tears spill down his back, and knows in his heart that Hanguang-Jun had been too late.

It is the only reason the man had been driven to such madness, after all.

Dabbling in forbidden techniques, chasing a lost love over an infinite amount of realms.

“I’m here now, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying reassures, gently kissing his cheek. “I’m here now, and I will never go.”

Hanguang-Jun crushes him tighter in his embrace, with such violent force that he almost squeezes the air out of his lungs. “I should have stayed back at the Burial Mounds. I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry. It was my fault. I should have stayed,” he rocks their bodies as he cries, completely wracked with an onslaught of sobs and tears.

He is no longer speaking to the Wei Ying of this universe; he is speaking to his Wei Ying, the one that burns at his core.

The one that has ceased to exist.

Wei Ying’s hand strokes at Hanguang-Jun’s head, hushing him softly. He has no idea where or what the Burial Mounds is, but he knows in his soul that it does not matter, anymore. “It’s okay, now. It’s okay, Lan Zhan. I forgive you. I wouldn’t have wanted you to stay.”

It is what Hanguang-Jun needs to hear the most, at this time. And Wei Ying will give it to him.

Wei Ying will give him everything in this life, and more.

.

.

.

In the end, they do not wait until their wedding night.

They fuck right then and there on the floor.

They are in such a hurry, they do not bother to even get undressed. They simply hike their robes up to their hips, pull down their undergarments to their knees, and then fuck like rabid animals, senselessly, mindlessly, ruled only by the hot, pumping desires that run through their veins.

Wei Ying is pinned down against the cold, hard floor as Hanguang-Jun grabs at both of his wrists and lifts them up high above his head, before thrusting deeply into his wet cunt with no hesitation. The boy takes him well and easily with his gorgeously flushed face, squirming and writhing with every inch he swallows of Hanguang-Jun, until Hanguang-Jun’s fat cock is buried deep inside, his balls pressed against the crevice of Wei Ying’s ass.

Hanguang-Jun does not even give Wei Ying a minute to adjust, or get used to the feeling of such a large girth stretching him, no. With his tear-stained cheeks and bloodshot eyes, Hanguang-Jun as a man looks as though he’s been pushed to the brink of insanity. He is so big, Wei Ying’s poor, flat belly is practically bulging, his fair, taut skin stretching over the curvature of Hanguang-Jun’s cock. The very sight of it drives Hanguang-Jun absolutely crazy.

Hanguang-Jun does not start off slow, even. He snaps his hips urgently forward, basking in the tightness of Wei Ying’s virgin pussy. While their many previous… practice sessions have stretched Wei Ying considerably, it is still not enough. Wei Ying is still so small underneath him, one wrong move and he’d break. But is it so bad if Hanguang-Jun wants to do just that? He wants to break him. Defile him, violate him. Dirty Wei Ying with his seed. Do the filthiest things to him ever known to mankind.

Hanguang-Jun deserves it, after so long.

He fucks him hard and fast, uncaring of every shaky moan or whimper that Wei Ying throws his way, the boy’s thighs practically trembling with every merciless thrust Hanguang-Jun gives to him. The man’s hands move down to grip hard at the bottom of Wei Ying’s upper thighs instead, crudely spreading them apart so as to give himself the best view, the best access to Wei Ying’s leaking cunt. He ends up gripping Wei Ying so hard, he leaves faint red marks with his fingernails on Wei Ying’s milky skin.

The boy has been plunged into such deep heights of pleasure at this point, his eyes are churning to the back of his head, his pussy squirting out considerable amounts of slick with every fervent thrust.

“Ah, ah, ah, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhaan,” Wei Ying sobs out like a prayer, his feet high up in the air, curling tight in the throes of pleasure. His high ponytail—having already long come loose behind him.

Hanguang-Jun’s not doing so well himself. His golden eyes are falling to a close as he paces his heavy breaths, his knees beginning to buckle under the furious and frenzied pounding. It is one thing to fuck a boy as attractive as Wei Ying; it is another thing to know that you are finally fucking the love of your life, the one you have yearned and pined for over multiple lifetimes, the one that got away, the one that you know so keenly in your heart was always meant to be yours.

It is not enough to fuck on the floor. They fuck on the table as well, the bed, against the wall, in the bathroom, and then back down on the floor—where they first started. Wei Ying on his back, Wei Ying on his front, Wei Ying with his ass up, Wei Ying with his ass down. They fuck in positions Wei Ying has only heard of in passing, hell, they fuck in positions Wei Ying didn’t even know was humanly possible before. Hanguang-Jun’s cock never leaves his wet cunt for long, and if he does, it’s only to flip Wei Ying into a new position or re-adjust his angles so he can thrust into a deeper part of Wei Ying, like never before.

The entire room permeates with smells of their sex, alpha and omega finally coming together as nature always intended it to be. They flood the air with their loud groans and with their noisy slapping of skin against skin, not even bothering to hold back one bit, not after having waited so long just to be able to feel each other like this. Hanguang-Jun chants Wei Ying’s name as much as Wei Ying echoes his, the two of them murmuring out delirious declarations of love for each other in between every ruthless thrust and fucking.

“My sweet baby,” Hanguang-Jun kisses all over his face, making sure to let the boy know he loves him so. “My sweet Wei Ying.”

Wei Ying gazes back up at him in a daze, with such a beautiful smile, that Hanguang-Jun is overcome with such emotion—and the knowledge that the agony of his several lifetimes is finally worth it.

Perhaps it is this combination of overflowing love and pleasure that pushes Hanguang-Jun right to the hilt, leading his knot to begin swelling so he can lock Wei Ying into place—just as he spills uncontrollably into him with a soft, unfettered gasp of “Wei Ying…!”.

Wei Ying’s half-lidded eyes flare wide open in surprise at the foreign sensation he feels in his cunt, when he feels Hanguang-Jun growing even bigger inside of him!

“H…Hanguang-Jun?” Wei Ying mewls, slightly scared.

“Shh,” Hanguang-Jun soothes him with a groan, as he furiously pumps out the last of his seed. “It will not hurt you.”

Wei Ying whines as he feels the head of Hanguang-Jun’s cock stretch him even further, even wider, taking up such space in the small confines of his body. He’s wincing as he asks, “Is this… Is this how I will have your baby?”

Hanguang-Jun hums against his shoulder. “Yes.”

“Oh,” Wei Ying moans out, dizzy at the very thought. Suddenly the pain becomes that much bearable. “Then, then, it is okay…”

“Wei Ying will become full with my child,” Hanguang-Jun sighs, trailing his hand up and over the existing, protruding bulge of Wei Ying’s distended belly. “Right here.”

Wei Ying hiccups, as if he cannot imagine such a thing.

But Hanguang-Jun’s cock inside of him already paints such a lovely picture, making his tiny stomach swell with such a bump.

“I can’t wait,” Wei Ying admits, shyly. “I can’t wait to start a new life with you.”

“Me too,” Hanguang-Jun says, smiling softly at his favourite boy.

And then the door to their room bursts open, ruining their perfect moment together.

“Hanguang-Jun, what’s taking you so long to get those arrows?! I’ve been waiting for such a—HEY!”

...Looks like their little secret is out.

(And Jiang Wanyin’s eyes—scarred forever.)

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.

.

Hanguang-Jun is of such a high station that even Jiang Fengmian and Madam Yu do not have it in them to chastise the man for his improper behaviour, despite it clearly being against tradition and custom to rob a maiden of their honour before the big wedding night.

Only Jiang Cheng has the heart to go off on the immortal by taking them both to kneel before his parents in the main ceremonial hall, although he adamantly still refuses to meet Wei Ying in the eye.

“To think the great Hanguang-Jun would commit such a despicable act! To desecrate my martial brother’s honour is too much, even if the both of you are betrothed! I always knew you were a lecherous old man! I have been proven right! A-niang, you cannot possibly still give A-Xian away to him like this!”

“What are you talking about?!” Madam Yu is livid. “Of course the wedding must still go on. Wei Wuxian and Hanguang-Jun have already consummated their marriage. If Wei Wuxian does not marry him, which other alpha would be willing to marry him with this knowledge? For all we know, Wei Wuxian is already with child!”

“But I refuse to let A-Xian go with him!”

“That is not your choice to make, Jiang Wanyin!”

“If I may,” Hanguang-Jun pipes up. “I acknowledge I was overly eager in my… consummation of marriage with Wei Ying. It is unfortunate that I was unable to rein in my unruly desires, however, I hope you will find it in yourselves to forgive me, and perhaps treat it as a simple case of an alpha that has lost control—which, while distressing, is not out of the ordinary for those of my kind.”

Jiang Fengmian is sympathetic enough to nod and agree, as though he understands the difficulties of an alpha. “It is not unheard of for an alpha to give into their desires. I believe Hanguang-Jun did his best to prevent it, but alas, mistakes can still be made.”

“Die! Are you seriously defending Hanguang-Jun, still?!”

“Aiya, Jiang Cheng!” Wei Ying yells, shooting him a hot look. “It’s not like we’re not already getting married! What’s the big deal!”

“I haven’t even started with you!” Jiang Cheng howls. “When I asked what you did during those meetings with Hanguang-Jun, you didn’t mention this! I should have known something sinister was happening behind the scenes, what with how frequent you both were meeting!”

“You’re just sore that no one will find you attractive that way!”

“Wei Wuxian!”

“Enough,” Madam Yu raises a hand, immediately silencing the both of them. Her concern is not with her children; rather, what Hanguang-Jun plans to do about the issue at hand. “Hanguang-Jun, despite your station, you understand that this will not do. If the marriage has already been consummated, there is a chance that Wei Ying will begin showing signs of pregnancy by the month’s end. We might not have the luxury of waiting until the wedding before rumours start flying.”

“I understand,” Hanguang-Jun firmly agrees. “Then, we will have to bring the wedding up, from when it was scheduled before. Wei Ying and I will be wed in two weeks.”

Wei Ying gulps, with such excitement flaring up in his eyes. “Two weeks?”

“Yes,” Hanguang-Jun says, clutching hold of Wei Ying’s hand eagerly. His lips are twitching in happiness as he repeats, “Two weeks.”

“I am satisfied with that,” Madam Yu responds, although she evidently mourns the loss of her spring wedding. “But what will you say when the other sects ask for the reason why?”

“The truth,” Hanguang-Jun hums. “I will simply announce that I cannot wait to have children, and have decided not to wait until spring. No one will question me further on that.”

Wei Ying’s cheeks redden. “That… That is…” Unbearably honest!

“That is shameful!” Jiang Cheng roars. “A-Xian’s not just a baby-maker for you!”

“Enough!” Madam Yu retorts. “Hanguang-Jun is right, no one will question him on that. It is widely known that the Gusu Lan Clan is looking for heirs.”

“Yes, it is a good enough reason,” Jiang Fengmian sheepishly says. “I trust you will make the necessary arrangements.”

“I will inform my uncle and the clan elders right away,” Hanguang-Jun declares, immediately getting up from where he is kneeling on the floor. He gently tugs Wei Ying along with him, helping him up from the ground. “In the meantime, I will have to leave Wei Ying in your care. If he is to show any early signs of pregnancy…”

“We will write to you immediately,” Madam Yu assures. “Leave Wei Ying with us. We will take good care of him, in your stead.”

Hanguang-Jun nods at her, then bows his head to everyone else and begins to take his leave.

But before he is to depart from Lotus Pier for good, he takes Wei Ying’s hand hurriedly into his and pulls him a good distance away from the rest, wanting to engulf the boy once more into one last choking embrace, right outside the doors of the hall where no one else can see them.

“The next time I see you,” Hanguang-Jun murmurs softly, against his cheek. “We will be husband and wife.”

Wei Ying’s heart flutters at the realisation. “It seems that way, Hanguang-Jun.”

“Lan Zhan,” Hanguang-Jun corrects, like a needy child that always has to get his way. “To you, it is always Lan Zhan.”

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying sighs, grinning up to him. “I will see you soon, husband.”

Hanguang-Jun’s eyes light up. “Mn,” he promises, bringing Wei Ying’s hand up to his lips so he can kiss his white knuckles. “I will miss you day and night, my sweet Wei Ying, until I see you again.”

Wei Ying has no doubts that he will.

.

.

.

The whole town is abuzz with gossip.

The great Hanguang-Jun has found a wife!

Throngs of people wait in anticipation outside of the doors of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect, where a rich sedan lies in wait to ferry Wei Ying out of Lotus Pier and into his new marital home at Cloud Recesses.

The omega is a dazzling sight, dressed in a long, sweeping, two-piece bridal frock made out of the rarest and reddest of silk, intricately embroidered with legendary dragons and phoenixes. His dress is not complete without the red veil that sits atop his head, his long hair having been elaborately bunned up to hold his golden phoenix crown in place. On his wrists he wears equally heavy golden bangles, and around his neck and on his ears sit matching golden jewellery that had been so thoughtfully sent over by Lan Qiren as a betrothal gift.

Jiang Yanli has to be the one to hold his hand as she steadies him on his feet and leads him up into the sedan, gushing and cooing at how beautiful A-Xian looks on his wedding day.

“You are the prettiest bride I have ever seen, A-Xian,” Jiang Yanli sighs, almost in tears. Then, her gaze falls onto Wei Ying’s belly, and she hastily adds on, “Correction! The prettiest pregnant bride, too!”

“Shijie, you spoil me with your flattery,” Wei Ying laughs from underneath his veil, as he tries his best to make himself comfortable in the sedan—as much as he can in such restrictive clothing. But it will all pay off! Madam Yu had made sure to order a new set of white lacy lingerie for him just for his special day, from the best tailor in town. “The baby’s hardly showing at this stage! I practically look the same.”

“Soon, you’ll have that pregnancy glow that all expectant mothers have!”

“Funny you should say that,” Wei Ying laughs, shaking his head. “Lan Zhan said the exact same.”

The entire entourage—consisting of the Jiang family, the bulk of the Yunmeng Jiang disciples, and even their servants—is headed by Jiang Cheng, who rides on his best horse and leads the rest of them onto the road to Cloud Recesses. It’s the least he can do, after all, to send his only brother off to another sect. He’d specifically requested for such a thing from his parents, who were too happy to let their only son and apparent heir rise up to such a heavy task.

Even if he is still reluctant to let Wei Ying part from them so soon, he ultimately understands it is for the best. There is a child that sits in Wei Ying’s belly that will need his father, and Jiang Cheng would be a fool to deny Wei Ying the happy family he always wanted.

Plus, if A-Xian’s words are to be trusted, then it seems that Hanguang-Jun will not deny him the life and glory of becoming a great cultivator, just like Wei Ying always dreamed of. It is simply that children will be added to the mixture.

Jiang Cheng is certain Wei Ying will grow into the likes of Hanguang-Jun, if not even better.

When they reach the front of Cloud Recesses, Jiang Cheng quickly hops off his horse, hoping to help Wei Ying out of the sedan as his rightful brother.

…Except a certain Lan Jingyi beats him right to it, that little sneak rushing in to extend a hand under the curtains of the sedan before Jiang Cheng gets the chance to do so.

Even without being able to properly see his face, Wei Ying can already recognise that distinctive, slender hand of his reaching for him beneath his veil. He has seen it one too many times before. “Jingyi!”

“Wei Wuxian! I’ve been waiting all day for your arrival!”

Wei Ying takes his hand and exits the sedan, and can tell through his semi-translucent veil that half of the Gusu Lan Clan have already gathered at the gates of Cloud Recesses to welcome the Jiang family in.

“Wow, it’s so crowded today!”

“Of course it is! It’s Hanguang-Jun’s wedding! It’s the biggest occasion of the year!”

Lan Jingyi’s admiration for the immortal, it seems, has not dwindled one bit, despite having gotten harshly berated by him over that one incident with Wei Ying just mere weeks back.

They catch up with each other with much enthusiasm, clinging onto each other’s arms as Lan Jingyi shows him the way in.

(Leaving a fuming Jiang Cheng trailing behind after them!)

“Wei Wuxian, I will have you know, I knew this day was coming the very first time you set foot on Cloud Recesses! I knew you were the one for Hanguang-Jun!”

“Hahaha, you’re lying! You couldn’t possibly have known!”

“I swear I knew! After you left, Hanguang-Jun could not stop smiling for days! It was mind-blowing to see! All of us knew then and there, that you would be the one to marry Hanguang-Jun!”

He always knew, too, Wei Ying thinks, as he fondly recalls Hanguang-Jun’s secret. He always knew I would come back to him.

They finally reach the grand ceremonial hall of Cloud Recesses, where Wei Ying knows he was always destined to return to.

Raising his head back up, he sees Hanguang-Jun waiting for him on the other end, dressed in an auspicious red for the wedding—instead of his usual Gusu Lan white. He looks so remarkably handsome as usual, standing all tall and straight, looking very much like the most eligible bachelor of these lands. Well, eligible bachelor he will be no more, from today.

Wei Ying sees the way Hanguang-Jun’s face brightens at the very sight of his bride-to-be, with pure love and adoration flooding his eyes.

Sees the way his gaze travels down to where Wei Ying’s belly lies, to where he knows his child is already growing.

And as Wei Ying strokes at his churning stomach, he thinks rather bittersweetly to himself,

To the other me, I hope you know that we did it.

We finally find our happiness with Lan Zhan, in this world.

Out there in the universe, a bright, flickering orb of a spirit is finally laid to rest.